#bill kauffman

[bandcampsnoop]

7/25/24.

I know Micah loves Michael Nau (Maryland). He posted about Nau's "Less Ready To Go" back in January 2020. He also referred to Nau in a post of Karl Blau's "Love & Harm".

I also posted two different releases of Dream Sitch - a collaboration between Seth Kauffman and Michael Nau.

Today, I found this nugget - Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread - at my local thrift store. I've been listening since and loving how Nau's voice sounds like Bill Callahan and Lee Hazlewood. But really, there is a definite Dream Sitch vibe here - I was surprised to see that Seth Kauffman isn't listed in the credits.

This was released by Full Time Hobby.

[dennistamayo]

My future projects

Here are my future projects for Boomerang, Amazon Prime Video, Discovery Family & Max (streaming service) between early 2025 & late 2026.

1. Dexter’s Laboratory Season 5 (new characters being developed for Season 5 after 22 episode scripts)

2. A 2D animated direct-to-DVD & Blu-ray movie about child rights narrated by Dexter from Dexter’s Lab co-produced with UNICEF.

3. A Saturday morning cartoon based on a popular sitcom of the 1990s & the 2000s, Friends by Marta Kauffman & David Crane. The 6 main characters will be in their preteens years (ages 10 to 12) set in Central Perk & the art style will be inspired by Genndy Tartakovsky & Chris Savino in the late 1990s & the early 2000s days of Cartoon Network originals.

4. A Cartoon Network crossover show with the 2 main stars of Dexter’s Laboratory, Dexter & Dee Dee similar to the Hanna-Barbera crossover shows of the 1970s & the 1980s led by Yogi Bear.

5. A documentary style animated show about 6 preteen girls which will be a spin-off of Dexter’s Lab as the characters will be modeled after Dee Dee, Dexter’s sister.

6. A Saturday morning cartoon based on an another popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory by Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady. The main characters will be in their preteens years (ages 10 to 12) set in Pasadena, California during the events of Young Sheldon & the art style will be inspired by Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken & Chris Savino in the late 1990s & in the early 2000s days of Cartoon Network originals, similar to the animated Friends spin-off I’ll be developing.

7. An untitled 2D animated Dexter direct-to-DVD & Blu-ray movie with Dee Dee combining the use of Flash animation & 3D cel shaded CGI.

Note: The new characters I’ll be developing will be inspired by Genndy Tartakovsky & Craig McCracken & not Pendleton Ward & J. G. Quintel.

[ptbf2002]

To Celebrate Canada Day, I'll Be Doing My Top 10 Favorite Cartoons From Canada.

#10 Total Drama Island

#9 George of the Jungle (2007 TV series)

#8 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series

#7 Ollie's Pack

#6 Grojband

#5 The Kids from Room 402

#4 Chuck's Choice

#3 Pucca (TV series)

#2 Monster Buster Club

And #1 Camp Lakebottom

Honorable Mentions: Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Last Kids on Earth, Sonic Prime, The Snoopy Show, Total Drama Action, Total Drama All-Stars, Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race, Total Drama World Tour, Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, Wild Kratts, Hilda, Angry Birds: Summer Madness, Being Ian, Dorg Van Dango, And Dr. Dimensionpants.

Original Template: https://www.deviantart.com/toongirl18/art/Top-10-Favorite-Canadian-Cartoons-408528581

Total Drama Island Belongs To Tom McGillis, Jennifer Pertsch, Elliott Animation Inc. Fresh TV Inc. CAKE Entertainment Ltd. TELETOON Original Production TELETOON Canada Inc. Corus Entertainment Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

George of the Jungle (2007 TV series) Belongs To Jay Ward, Bill Scott, Copernicus Studios Inc. Top Draw Animation, Inc. Studio B Productions, Inc. DHX Media Vancouver, WildBrain Studios, WildBrain Ltd. Bullwinkle Studios LLC, Classic Media, LLC, Entertainment Rights PLC, DreamWorks Classics, TELETOON Original Production TELETOON Canada Inc. Corus Entertainment Inc. Cartoon Network, The Cartoon Network, Inc. Warner Bros. Discovery Networks, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. WarnerMedia And Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series Belongs To Mark Evestaff, Alex Galatis, DHX Media Vancouver, WildBrain Studios, WildBrain Ltd. Sony Pictures Animation Inc. Sony Pictures Television Studios, Sony Pictures Television Inc. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Sony Entertainment, Inc. Sony Corporation of America, Sony Group Corporation, YTV (TV channel), YTV Canada, Inc. And Corus Entertainment Inc.

Ollie's Pack Belongs To Pedro Eboli, Graham Peterson, Birdo Studio, Nelvana Enterprises Inc. Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Group, Paramount Global Content Distribution, Paramount International Networks, Paramount Domestic Media Networks, Paramount Media Networks, Inc. Paramount Global, YTV (TV channel), YTV Canada, Inc. And Corus Entertainment Inc.

Grojband Belongs To Todd Kauffman, Mark Thornton, Elliott Animation Inc. Neptoon Studios, Fresh TV Inc. Fremantle Limited, TELETOON Original Production TELETOON Canada Inc. And Corus Entertainment Inc.

The Kids from Room 402 Belongs To Betty Paraskevas, Michael Paraskevas, Chile Animación, New Vision International, CinéGroupe, Saban Entertainment, Inc. FOX Family Channel, FOX Kids, TELETOON, TELETOON Canada Inc. And Corus Entertainment Inc.

Chuck's Choice Belongs To Kervin Faria, Top Draw Animation, Inc. Studio B Productions, Inc. DHX Media Vancouver, WildBrain Studios, WildBrain Ltd. YTV (TV channel), YTV Canada, Inc. And Corus Entertainment Inc.

Pucca (TV series) Belongs To Boo Kyoung Kim, Calvin Kim, VOOZ Character System, Studio B Productions, Inc. DHX Media Vancouver, WildBrain Studios, WildBrain Ltd. MBC TV (South Korean TV channel), Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, JETIX, Jetix Europe N.V. Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Branded Television, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Inc. And The Walt Disney Company

Monster Buster Club Belongs To Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, David Michel, Designstorm Animation Studio, Zodiak Kids Studios France, Banijay, Image Entertainment Corporation, TF1, TF1 Group, JETIX, Jetix Europe N.V. Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Branded Television, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Inc. The Walt Disney Company, YTV (TV channel), YTV Canada, Inc. And Corus Entertainment Inc.

Camp Lakebottom Belongs To Eric Jacobson, Betsy McGowen, Meghan Davies, Shelley Hoffman, Robert Pincombe, Skywriter Media & Entertainment Group, Jam Filled Entertainment, Boat Rocker Media Inc. 9 Story Media Group Inc. Disney XD, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, Disney Branded Television, Disney General Entertainment Content, Disney Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Inc. The Walt Disney Company, TELETOON Original Production TELETOON Canada Inc. And Corus Entertainment Inc.

[docrotten]

THE BOOGEY MAN (1980) – Episode 260 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“Your mother, did she date other men?” Define “date.” Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they try to figure out Ulli Lomel’s version of The Boogey Man (1980).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 260 – The Boogey Man (1980)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Gruesome Magazine is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of Decades of Horror 1980s and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

A young girl witnesses her brother murder their mom’s boyfriend through a reflection in a mirror. Twenty years later the mirror is shattered, freeing the dead boyfriend’s evil spirit, which seeks revenge for his death.

Directed by: Ulli Lommel

Writing Credits: (screenplay by) Ulli Lommel, Suzanna Love, David Herschel; (written by) Ulli Lommel

Music by: Tim Krog

Cinematography by: David Sperling, Jochen Breitenstein

Editing by: Terrell Tannen

Selected Cast:

Suzanna Love as Lacey

Ron James as Jake

John Carradine as Dr. Warren

Nicholas Love as Willy

Raymond Boyden as Kevin

Felicite Morgan as Aunt Helen

Bill Rayburn as Uncle Ernest

Llewelyn Thomas as Father Reilly

Jay Wright as Young Willy

Natasha Schiano as Young Lacey

Gillian Gordon as Lacey and Willy’s Mother

Howard Grant as The Lover

Jane Pratt as Jane

Lucinda Ziesing as Susan

David Swim as Timmy

Katie Casey as Teenager

Ernest Meier as Teenager

Charles David Richards as Teenager (as Stony Richards)

Claudia Porcelli as Teenager

Catherine Tambini as Katy

Sporting a title that has burrowed its way into every child’s nightmares, The Boogey Man also borrows from or pays homage to several previous horror films, among them The Exorcist (1973), Halloween (1978), and The Amityville Horror (1979). Helmed by the famous (or is it infamous?) director, Ulli Lommel, this low-budget supernatural slasher is a family affair: Lommel’s wife, Susanna Love, stars; the cast is spotted with her friends and relatives; and it’s even shot on her uncle’s farm. Does the result live up to its chilling title? The 80s Grue-Crew has plenty to say on that subject and many more as they frequently get sidetracked in this episode.

At the time of this writing, The Boogey Man is available to stream from Shudder and Amazon PPV. The movie is available on physical media from Vinegar Syndrome in a 2-disc Blu-ray edition: one 4K Ultra HD disc and one standard format Blu-ray disc.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Chad, will be Mother’s Day (1980), directed by Charles Kauffman. It’s Troma time, just in time for Father’s Day!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

Lyrics & Lyricists: An Evening with Jason Robert Brown

May 9, 2024 | 92NY | Kauffman Concert Hall | Evening | Concert | Series | 2H 25M

A special one-night-only event in the ongoing Lyrics & Lyricists series at the 92Y, this concert featured Jason Robert Brown and a full eight-person band, two vocalists, and two guest performers. I like JRB's music, generally. I think he's one of the contemporary musical theatre composers out there who understands how to write for musicals. He previewed a few songs from hush-hush projects, some classics we all know, and other things. Heidi Blickenstaff filled in last-minute for Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, along with Mykal Kilgore.

And it was loud. And long. These shows are typically about an hour-and-a-half, and usually I want much more. This show, I wanted so much less. The acoustics in this theatre are not designed for big, brash rock concerts, and it was an auditory equivalent of playing a foghorn in a closet for over two hours. Too much belting from the guest singers, and I'm just not fond of Kilgore's high tenor in general. I find it grating. I like Blickenstaff. She's very funny, but vocally I'm not into it either. Objectively, everything and everyone was great. But it's a thumbs down from me.

I think the adjusted format ultimately did not work as a Lyrics & Lyricsts event, which is usually a host and a few guest performers paying tribute to an artist, speaking about their work and history, and sharing a love with the audience. This was just a JRB concert, and he's a funny guy, but it would have been so much better with the usual format and no involvement from him. It should have been billed as a concert without the series connection. It started late (fifteen minutes or so), it dragged, it didn't have any particular arc. And why did no one advertise the runtime ahead of time?

Verdict: Artistically Amazing; Personally, No Thanks

A Note on Ratings

[ailtrahq]

The XRP community came in support of blockchain-based file-sharing and payment network after it filed a notice of Appeal against the . LBRY suddenly decided to Appeal against the final judgment in favor of the U.S. SEC in July, sparking excitement in the crypto community. LBRY Files Notice of Appeal Against US SEC According to a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire on September 7, LBRY now appeals to the court against the final judgment entered on July 11. The judge sided with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the firm sold unregistered Securities. After two months of final judgment, LBRY decided to fight back against the US SEC. LBRY confirmed earlier that it will completely wind down its operations, with the community free to decide how to make use of its LBC token. LBRY owner Jeremy Kauffman also was dissatisfied with the decision, but recent rulings in Ripple and Grayscale have turned the tables. Jeremy Kauffman also shared posts of support from the XRP community but didn’t reveal anything about the decision to file an Appeal after two months. LBRY has filed a Notice of Appeal against the SEC. pic.twitter.com/Zp9S0TP0Qw — LBRY 🚀 (@LBRYcom) September 7, 2023 XRP Lawyers And Ripple Chairman On The Outcome Of US SEC Lawsuit Support from XRP Community LBRY announcement sparked excitement in the XRP community, with many expecting a win against the U.S. SEC. Lawyer Bill Morgan said “Everyone is on your side especially holders of the LBC token. I always said it wasn’t a good judgment.” Key community members such as pro-XRP attorney John E. Deaton and others also reacted to LBRY filing. This is a major moment for the crypto community to prevent the SEC’s irrational actions against the crypto industry.

[autismking]

Hi! If you like this tattoo, please consider donating to this GoFundMe:

Nina (she/they) did this amazing tattoo on me and was the main artist at Golden Girl Tattoo Parlor in Denton, TX. In solidarity with their partner coffee shop Golden Boy’s staff walking out, Nina and the other artist in the shop have closed down GGTP. The owner has put them all through hell, fallen behind on bills and licensing, lied, stolen, and has sexual assault allegations against him. Nina is striking out to start her own queer and woman friendly shop and could use some help. If you’ve got a few bucks to send their way, or can even just reblog this version of this post, it would help a lot ❤️

"God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason God made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine, so that humanity might share in the act of creation.” - Julian K. Jarboe

[freedomisunderrated]

I have long believed that the word conservative is sullied beyond reclamation, so my immediate answer to the question “What is American conservatism?” is “a Beltway-based racket exploiting the healthy instincts of decent Americans on behalf of the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, and the Republican Party.” But that answer is confuted by this very magazine, founded as it was in opposition to the criminal Iraq war and animated and inspirited, then and now, by principles and precious things that had long been forgotten or repudiated by most of the American Right: peace, place, humility, community, federalism, the Bill of Rights.

The conservative movement was poisoned at its roots—or, should I say, its rootlessness. After the death of the noble Senator Robert Taft (R-OH) in 1953, “conservatism” at the national level came to be defined, to a grossly disproportionate degree, by ex-communists avid to slay the god that failed them. The resultant movement subordinated domestic felicity and the gloriously idiosyncratic Little America to the frenzied promotion of what William F. Buckley Jr. described as an “instrument of totalitarian bureaucracy within our shores,” which he said we must accept “for the duration” of the Cold War. But when the Soviet Union dissolved, we did not return to being a “normal country,” as Jeane Kirkpatrick, Reagan’s UN ambassador, had recommended, but instead sought out a dreary concatenation of new enemies to justify the warfare state. (Even now, bellicose opportunists have their eye on China, as the scare-by date of shoe-bomb jihadis is about up.)

The wisest, most insightful, most independent-minded men who passed through the late and unlamented conservative movement—Robert Nisbet, Karl Hess, Russell Kirk, Murray Rothbard, Felix Morley—became disaffected and out of step. They understood that a grotesque empire had suffocated and supplanted the erstwhile republic, and that an America that is true to itself and worthy of respect must be decentralist, anti-interventionist, neighborly.

There is a healthy tradition in American political life that breathes this spirit, and that is, in parts and in sum, gentle, rambunctious, lyrical, just, and deeply, deeply American. Its first bloom was the Anti-Federalists, those prophetic backcountry critics of our misbegotten Constitution and champions of a decentralized nation. The tradition stretches on through the Loco Focos, the Populists, the Southern Agrarians, the Catholic Workers, the Old Right, the “freewheeling participatory democracy” wing of the New Left, the Perot-Buchanan-Paul Middle American revolutionaries, the hippie localists….This is the soul, the numen, of political America.

This is not just a literary conceit, or a gallery of lovable romantic losers. I see its expression, in variegated forms, all around us. It’s in farmers markets, grocery co-ops, community-supported-agriculture farms, local theater, and homeschool groups. It’s there wherever Americans gather in defense of the first Ten Amendments (dig all those Ninth Amendment rallies!), or every time a young girl puts up a birdhouse or kids gather for a pickup baseball game. Politically, it takes the form of split-state movements in New York, California, Illinois, and elsewhere; it’s in the Bring the (National) Guard Home campaign and the inchoate yearnings for peace that both parties do their best to snuff out; it’s in the distributist proposals to encourage small shops and home production and in the anarchist calls to expropriate the expropriators; it’s in the libertarian rejection of the surveillance state and in the refusal of those whom Robert Frost affectionately termed “insubordinate Americans” to say hooray for Hollywood. It’s in things hipster (small craft breweries, little libraries, DIY music) and square (Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, volunteer fire departments).

America is not an idea, an abstraction, or a marketing slogan. It is our home, and the land we love above all others.

At church, or public gatherings in my town, a prayer for the young people in the armed services will usually end with “bring them home safely.” I never have the heart to tell the minister that the architects of U.S. foreign policy do not intend for these soldiers to ever come home en masse. They will be over there—the exact location of there changing every few years—forever. It’s no coincidence that the foreign policy slogan most reviled by the foreign policy establishment—after “America First,” of course—was “Come Home, America,” the patriot George McGovern’s beautiful, even poetic plea in 1972. Because America ain’t ever supposed to come home.

It’s striking how seldom the word home is used in American political discourse. It packs a visceral punch, it can trigger the tear ducts—“Bring the Boys Home,” to echo the great anti-Vietnam War anthem by Freda Payne—but while home touches something in ordinary Americans, it means nothing to those who stride purposefully through corridors of power. 

Well, if conservatism doesn’t stand for home then it stands for nothing, and to hell with it. 

We owe the carnival barker in the White House profuse thanks on two counts: first, for driving a stake through the heart of the Bush and Clinton dynasties, and second, for bulldozing the barbed-wire fences that confined political discussion to the turbid channel separating Mitch McConnell from Nancy Pelosi.

Alas, Donald Trump is in love with grandiosity, with hugeness, with a bigger-is-better philosophy that is the antithesis of the humane and human-scale Little America whose million and one civic embodiments are the best thing about this country.

Don’t make America great. Make her good by reinvigorating the dormant traditions of local self-government, of confident liberty, of charity and love, and of that wonderful indigenous blend of don’t-tread-on-me defiance of remote arrogant rule with I’ll-give-you-the-shirt-off-my-back communitarianism. 

Is that conservatism? I dunno. But it’s American, and it’s good enough for me.

[apesoformythoughts]

Down with Rosie the Riveter, up with Dorothy Day.

Bill Kauffman, roasting the USA’s military-industrial complex.

[spacesapphist]

The best nonfiction books I've read so far this year

Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon

Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism by L.A. Kauffman

Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson

Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

[dennistamayo]

Saturday morning cartoons will live again!

This summer at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, California, I will develop two Saturday-morning cartoons based on Warner Bros. Television Studios’ popular sitcoms, Friends by Marta Kauffman & David Crane & The Big Bang Theory by Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady. In these animated prequels, the main characters in their respective shows will be in their preteen years (between the ages of 10 & 12). The Friends prequel will set in Central Perk while The Big Bang Theory prequel in Pasadena, California during the events of Young Sheldon & the art style will be inspired by Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken & Chris Savino in late 1990s & the early 2000s days of Cartoon Network originals. The cartoons I develop will set to premiere between early & mid 2025, both the Friends & The Big Bang Theory prequels will premiere exclusively on Discovery Family then later on HBO Max (soon Max after merging with Discovery+ on the 4th Tuesday of next month) because all the animated shows on Cartoon Network today uses the current thin line art style thanks to Pendleton Ward & J. G. Quintel, & the running time for the shows are now 15 minutes with commercials. They will be the few 2020s cartoons not to use the Pendleton Ward/J. G. Quintel art style but the thick line art style when it’s not animated in flash, same with Unicorn: Warriors Eternal by Genndy Tartakovsky. For these future projects, they will be produced by Warner Bros. Animation in association with Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions for the Friends prequel, Chuck Lorre Productions for The Big Bang Theory prequel & Warner Bros. Television Studios for both shows respectively. Let’s bring sitcom based cartoons back.

[ginzyblog]

Carol Kauffman, “Bill Keck’s apartment,” a regular hangout for Allen, Jack and William, 2nd Ave, Lower East Side, New York, Fall 1953,  two years before she met and soon after married novelist, essayist, screenwriter, Terry Southern (Candy, Dr Strangelove). Her and Terry’s son Nile notes “I think my mom used to say that this was the morning Allen announced he was ‘going to California’. That trip to California would produce many of Allen’s most important early poems.

(photo: Allen Ginsberg, courtesy Stanford University Libraries / Allen Ginsberg Estate)

[docrotten]

GORGO (1961) – Episode 157 – Decades Of Horror: The Classic Era

“I came to let him go back to the sea where he belongs. Maybe to save your silly skins for you!” Yes, young sir. Save their silly skins, please, sir? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Chad Hunt, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr – as they travel across the pond (rather than across the Pacific) for some sweet kaiju-in-the-UK with Gorgo (1961).

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 157 – Gorgo (1961)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

Greedy sailors capture a giant lizard off the coast of Ireland and sell it to a London circus. Then its mother shows up.

  Director: Eugène Lourié

Writers: Robert L. Richards (credited as John Loring), Daniel James (credited as Daniel Hyatt)

Selected Cast:

Bill Travers as Joe Ryan

William Sylvester as Sam Slade

Vincent Winter as Sean

Christopher Rhodes as McCartin

Joseph O’Conor as Prof. Hendricks

Bruce Seton as Prof. Flaherty

Martin Benson as Dorkin

Maurice Kaufmann as Radio Reporter (as Maurice Kauffman)

Basil Dignam as Admiral

Barry Keegan as Mate

Tommy Duggan as 1st Naval Officer (as Thomas Duggan)

Howard Lang as 1st Colonel

Dervis Ward as Bosun

Mick Dillon as Gorgo (uncredited)

Dave Wilding as Gorgo (uncredited)

Bob Bura as Gorgo (uncredited)

John Wood as Sandwich-Board Man (uncredited)

Gorgo features Doc’s favorite non-Japanese sea monster and you have to love the film’s, “No, the monster is not the main monster,” twist. How many times have you seen that trope in films? The Grue Crew can’t think of an example prior to Gorgo, but, perhaps, some of the Grue Believers know better. At any rate, it’s another Classic Era episode where nary an evisceration is seen. There is, however, much squashing and squishing.

At the time of this writing, Gorgo is available for streaming from Tubi, Pluto TV, and others, along with a variety of PPV options. The film is also available as a Blu-ray disc from VCI Video. A 4K Ultra HD version is due for release on August 29, 2023, from Vinegar Syndrome.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Up next in their very flexible schedule, as chosen by Chad, is Universal’s House of Dracula (1945). Calling all Universal Horror monsters! Well, maybe not all.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”

Check out this episode!

[solarscholarsofmagick]

Saturn in Aquarius: 2020-2023

Beginning on March 21, Saturn entered the revolutionary sign of Aquarius for a brief month and a half preview and will retrograde back into Capricorn until the end of September. On December 17, it will re-enter Aquarius until March of 2023. Saturn is known as the planet of limitations, boundaries, responsibilities and hard lessons, and up until now has been making its way through the restrictive and authoritarian sign of Capricorn since the beginning of 2018. Though Saturn is the ruler of earthy Capricorn and identifies well with that controlling energy, it doesn’t always do its best work in this sign. Traditionally, Saturn also rules the airy free-flowing sign of Aquarius and tends to be very comfortable in this sign, despite how different they may seem. When Saturn enters this humanitarian sign, it evolves into a higher version of itself, capable of bringing much needed equality and change into the world. How do we know this? Well, let’s take a look at the last few Saturn transits through Aquarius – from 1991 to 1994, and before that, from 1962 to 1964.

Let’s begin with Saturn’s transit through futuristic Aquarius back in 1962. Right off the bat, as Saturn entered the sign, the first automated (unmanned) subway train in New York City began running. Aquarius rules technology and automation, so this stood out to me as a very modern Aquarian development already. Also in 1962, Spacewar! was developed and released as the first computer game, featuring two spaceships fighting it out. Each spaceship was controlled by a player, meaning it was not only the first computer game, but also the first multi-player game for computers. Fitting, as Aquarius rules groups as well as spaceships and technology.

In the early 1990s, there were also some major technological advancements, specifically related to the internet and computers. In 1991, at the beginning of Saturn’s transit through Aquarius, Apple released the PowerBook, the first modern laptop computer, which was a huge development in the computer world and has influenced our modern computers significantly in their portability and design. The WorldWide Web was technically invented in 1989, while Saturn was transiting Capricorn, and it was exclusively meant for information-sharing between scientists in institutions around the world at that time. However, in April of 1993, after Saturn had entered Aquarius, CERN made the “www” software public, accessible to anyone with a computer. This is significant because Aquarius represents freedom and equality, and though it was still mainly the upper class that could afford computers at the time, this movement away from intellectual elitism essentially opened the internet up for free public use like we have today. In 1992, ViolaWWW was released, and was the first web browser to become popularized by users. It was also the recommended browser by CERN until it was replaced by Mosaic in 1993, the first web browser to display images with text rather than in a new window.

In the upcoming transit of Saturn through Aquarius, we can expect to see even more advanced technology developments. Many people are expecting Artificial Intelligence to really take off in the coming years, as well as 5G technology and space travel on a grander scale. Smart devices and appliances are becoming more readily available and more advanced.

The future of technology was on the minds of many in the early 1960s, reflected in ABC’s first color animated TV series, The Jetsons, premiering in September of 1962. Not only does Aquarius rule color television and cartoons, but the futuristic utopian vision held by The Jetsons is also very Aquarian in nature. Television also welcomed the eccentric and beloved Addams family in 1964 with ABC’s premiere of The Addams Family. This television classic questioned social norms of the time, specifically the values of the traditional mid-century American family, which were quite conservative at the time. This series became a symbol of the counterculture in television, a typically Aquarian concept. Another incredibly popular futuristic TV show that technically started during Saturn’s transit through Aquarius, Star Trek began filming in November of 1964, during the last couple months of Saturn’s journey through this sign. Star Trek is also notable for this transit due to the fact that it was one of the first television shows to give women, especially black women, prominent and respected roles. The character Lt. Uhura, the ship’s communications officer, was played by Nichelle Nichols, a black actress. At that time, black women typically only appeared in television as servants and maids, so this was a revolutionary change not only in television but in the civil rights movement as well. In fact, when Nichelle Nichols considered quitting the show to pursue a career on Broadway, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met with Nichelle, convincing her to stay on the show as a part of history.

Television in the early 1990s during Saturn’s next transit through Aquarius was just as influential on culture as the television of the early 1960s. One of the first TV shows that comes to mind when I think of the 90s in television is the classic sitcom Friends. Though this show technically didn’t air until Saturn had moved into Pisces in 1994, the concept of the show resonates very closely with Aquarian themes. For one, the name “Friends” is representative of Aquarius, the sign of friendship and camaraderie. David Crane and Marta Kauffman, the show’s creators, began developing Friends in late 1993 under the early title of Insomnia Cafe, as Saturn made its way through the last 10 degrees of Aquarius. Though it initially had mixed reviews, Friends grew to become one of the most popular and beloved television shows of its time. Another well-loved show of the early 90s, though aimed more towards a younger audience, Bill Nye the Science Guy first aired in 1993, and embraced the forward-thinking Aquarian scientist archetype. Science in general is ruled by Aquarius, sign of innovation and discovery, and this show was designed to teach children about the realities of science and observation. One TV show I thought I should mention here as well is The Real World, which first aired on MTV in 1992, and is credited as being the birth of the “reality TV” genre of television, though it was edited quite often in favor of certain situations and reactions that didn’t quite reflect reality. It received a lot of criticism as well for not ever casting an Asian man in nearly 30 years on television. Reality TV is also very much a Saturn in Aquarius concept, as Saturn rules realism, and Aquarius rules television in general.

Aquarius is also the ruler of cartoons, as I touched on earlier, so it’s only fitting that I discuss a few cartoons of the early 90s. The trend of “cartoons for adults” was beginning to take off around this time, after The Simpsons paved the way in 1989 with its adult humor and hidden messages about adult life. One of the more “mature” cartoons that comes to mind when thinking of Saturn’s transit through Aquarius in the early 1990s is The Ren & Stimpy Show. This show first aired in 1991, and was quite grotesque in its animation style, featuring detailed animated close-ups with which other shows later followed suit. It was especially adored among college students due to its bizarre animation style and dark yet quirky humor. Another “adult cartoon” that began while Saturn was making its way through Aquarius is Beavis and Butt-Head, which first aired in 1993. This cartoon had mixed reviews and stirred up a lot of controversy with its seemingly idiotic social criticism, but became a staple of early 90s adult television nonetheless. The social criticism in this show is representative of Saturn in Aquarius as well, as Saturn portrays a harsh, critical nature, and Aquarius is a sign of society and social groups. Rocko’s Modern Life was yet another cartoon series that was aimed for young adults rather than children, and achieved moderate success after its initial release in 1993. This show was known for highlighting adult situations through cartoon animation- combining the adult responsibilities and themes of Saturn with the off-beat cartoony Aquarian personality. One last cartoon I’d like to mention in this segment of adult cartoons is Animaniacs, which first aired in 1993, and quickly became a hit with both children under age 11 and adults over 25. The large following among adults even led to one of the earliest Internet fandom cultures, another Aquarian concept.

Television in the coming years will likely circle around again to some of these rebellious Aquarian ideas, and it’s likely that TV will become even more entwined with the Internet over the next few years, as online streaming is more common these days than watching cable TV.

Saturn’s movement through Aquarius was a big part of the civil rights movement of the early 60s as well. The sign of Aquarius is a sign of freedom, equal human rights, and disrupting the status quo, which essentially were a few of the main goals of the movement. In fact, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a 10th house Aquarius Mercury, which is why we remember him best for his “I have a dream” speech, which he delivered August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C. for the 200,000+ people who gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington. During the time he was writing and revising this speech, Saturn was transiting his Mercury in Aquarius as well. Later in 1963, on October 22, roughly 200,000 students stayed out of school in Chicago to protest segregation of African-American students in schools. This was a major peak of an ongoing battle to desegregate schools across America, again acting out the Aquarian values of equality and social justice.

In the early 1990s, this theme re-emerged through the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. A video went public in 1991 of five white Los Angeles police officers severely beating Mr. Rodney King after pulling him over for speeding. The riots began on April 29, 1992 after a trial jury acquitted four of the officers, enraging thousands of Southern Californians who took to the streets in anger. By the end of the riots, in early May, sixty-three people had been killed and thousands more were injured or had been arrested. The 1992 Rodney King riots went on to inspire the folk song “Like a King” from Ben Harper’s debut 1994 album Welcome to the Cruel World, which was released just after Saturn transited into Pisces; therefore, the songs were written and recorded while Saturn was in Aquarius.

In the coming transit of Saturn through Aquarius, we can expect to see another revolutionary movement, particularly watching the Black Lives Matter movement, because the hashtag was born while Saturn was in Scorpio, meaning Saturn in Aquarius will be coming up on a Saturn square for the birth chart of the movement.

Furthermore in music, there were a few major developments in the early 1960s while Saturn was in Aquarius that stood out to me. First, in the early to mid 60s, Joan Baez was beginning to make a name for herself in folk music during the American folk revival. Then in 1962, Peter, Paul & Mary released their debut album, which reached #1 on the US album charts. During the same year, Bob Dylan released his self-titled debut album of cover songs, and later went on to release his first original album The Times They Are a-Changin’ in 1964, towards the end of Saturn’s journey through Aquarius. These politically-charged folk artists all peaked with the folk revival during Saturn’s transit through Aquarius, which makes sense, as folk music is Aquarian in its nature, typically discussing issues of politics, inequality and other “radical” ideas of change. In fact, these artists also all performed “We Shall Overcome” at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington in 1963.

Another emerging group that stood out to me from this Aquarian transit was The Beatles. This incredibly successful rock group released their first couple of songs, “Please Please Me” and “Ask Me Why,” in January of 1963. By the next month, their single “Please Please Me” was topping the British rock charts. The Beatles released their debut studio album, Please Please Me, in March 1963, and by May had landed on the top of the UK album charts, staying there for 30 weeks, only to be replaced by their second studio album, With The Beatles. By October of 1963, the media began using the term “Beatlemania” to describe the frenzied behavior exhibited by Beatles fans across the globe. Many of their live performances were accompanied by the sounds of screaming fans and general hysteria. Fanatics, by the way, are also ruled by Aquarius. In February of 1964, The Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, drawing a record 73.7 million viewers. The crazed audience clearly depicts the “Beatlemania” phenomenon in full swing. But how do The Beatles relate to Saturn’s transit through Aquarius? First off, The Beatles were one of the first mainstream groups to market to the younger generation of teenagers rather than to their parents. This was a big shift in the music industry, as typically it was the older audience with all the spending power, whereas now, young teenage girls were a powerful force in the music market. Though their earlier songs avoided heavier social topics, it became obvious later in their career that The Beatles were a huge part of the birth of counterculture and anti-establishment ideas. In 1964, when the band was informed that a venue they were scheduled to perform at in Florida in the US was segregated, they refused to play unless the audience was integrated. Many more conservative countries refused to allow The Beatles to perform at all, in fear that their progressive counterculture ideas would “infect” their younger population. Even the United States attempted to ban all British acts in 1965, as they saw their emerging rock ‘n’ roll culture as “dangerous” to the youth of the nation. The Beatles were also highly progressive in their music style, and incorporated many new and unusual recording techniques into their albums. This ongoing theme of progressive thinking and “peace and love” apparent in the music of The Beatles is very in line with the nature of Aquarius.

Later, in the early 1990s, grunge bands were the new emerging music trend. A number of grunge rock bands all released major hit albums around the same time: right around Saturn’s transit through rebellious Aquarius. In 1991, Pearl Jam released their debut album Ten, followed by Nirvana releasing their second album Nevermind, and then Soundgarden with Badmotorfinger– all within a span of two months! All three albums were incredibly successful, and resonated strongly with the Aquarian counterculture and anti-establishment ideas brought out by the earlier generation in the early 1960s. Then in 1992, Alice in Chains released their second studio album, Dirt, which is considered by many to be their best work. Also released in 1992, Stone Temple Pilots debuted with their first studio album, Core, which received mixed reviews, though it went on to win a Grammy in 1994 for Best Hard Rock Performance. Nirvana received a lot of attention and success in the early 90s as well, and Kurt Cobain was dubbed “the voice of a generation” by many. Similar to The Beatles influence on counterculture, Kurt Cobain’s darker lyrical content touched many listeners’ hearts on a deeper level than the earlier hair metal had been able to.

In the next few years in music, we’re likely to see younger emerging artists, similar to Billie Eilish, who has an Aquarius Moon, taking over the scene with some revolutionary new ideas and social commentary in their lyrics.

Though Aquarius is a masculine sign, I’ve also noticed a pattern with emerging feminist movements during these transits due to the focus on equal human rights. The second wave of feminism began picking up speed around 1963, when two major works of feminist writing were published: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Both works were largely critical of the typical role of a female as a domestic housekeeper/mother figure in 1960s society. These works encouraged women to pursue careers that they felt passionately about for the first time. Also in 1963, journalist Gloria Steinem became a prominent figure in feminist culture after going undercover as a Playboy Bunny and revealing the poor treatment and underpayment of the waitresses at the Playboy Club.

In the early 1990s, during Saturn’s next transit through Aquarius, the third wave of feminism began to emerge. While second-wave feminism dealt primarily with issues surrounding equal opportunities for [predominantly white] women in the workplace, this third wave of feminism dealt with issues regarding intersectional feminism, violence against women and reproductive/sexual freedom. A trend of reclaiming “derogatory” female terms (for example: bitch, slut, whore) began largely with the Riot grrrl movement in punk music, popularized by female-constructed bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, as a way of expressing feminine identity on their own terms.

Feminine power is already on the rise again, with Uranus having moved into feminine Taurus a couple years ago and still having several more years to go on that transit. Women in power will do great things with that power, and more women will come to be in power over the next few years with Saturn in this sign. Whether it be individual political power, or power in numbers, women around the world will come together and rise to power from now until 2023. Another trend I expect to see play out while Saturn transits Aquarius these next few years as well is that of gender revolution. With the gender roles of the past melting away, a revolution is roaring around the corner, and gender queer/LGBTQ+ identifying people will likely score a few big victories in the upcoming Aquarian transit.

Another theme I noticed through Saturn’s transit of Aquarius in the early 1960s was a theme of national independence and freedom. In August of 1962, the colony of Jamaica became independent, freeing Jamaicans from the United Kingdom after 300 years of British rule. In October that same year, Uganda also became independent from the UK. Then, in 1963, Kenya declared independence from the UK as well. Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic and Zanzibar both experienced major revolutions during this time frame in search of freedom. This trend continued in the early 90s, with many countries, including Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia, all declaring their independence from the USSR in 1991.

It’s likely that we will see many more uprisings and movements towards independence, including the United States’ Pluto return in 2022/2023, which is expected to be a revolutionary moment for the history of the country.

These are the kinds of themes we are likely to see re-emerging until March 2023, while Saturn roams through free-spirited Aquarius. Technological innovations are going to be increasingly involved with our lives, as the internet of things develops further. Television will trend towards witty humor and social criticism, as it did the previous few times Saturn was in Aquarius. Civil rights movements will be center-stage, writing more groundbreaking history into our textbooks, while the future leans towards figures who are genderqueer, females, diverse, and/or of color, rather than in favor of the cis-gender/heterosexual white male. Mainstream music will take on its own social commentary within the industry. Independence of the individual as well as the nation will be stressed in the coming years. Saturn feels confident in this sign, and we should too, moving forward into Saturn’s “Age of Aquarius” with hope for a better future.