#bill switzer

[haveyouseenthisseries-poll]

[anarchic-miscellany]

Gundam SEED: A Dubbing Journey

More fun physical media tales! "Gundam SEED"

It's not the best Gundam series, but it's good fun and the first iteration of "Gundam" which I watched. Hence I have a sense of nostalgia for it, despite its flaws (looking at you 48 episode length...).

Anime is already a fairly niche field, despite the hilarious jokes and mainstream creep us filthy degenerates are making into modern society. The age old "debate" I guess, between those of us who have never seen the sun, seems to be between watching in the original language with subtitles, or watching it dubbed.

My personal thoughts go towards the dub. Aside from the fact that there are dozens and dozens of brilliant actors in this field who make the material fantastic and more accessible (Tara Platt, Yuri Lowenthal, Colleen Clinkenbeard, my homie Kirk Thornton, Steve Blum, Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee, Kari Wahlgren, Todd Haberkon, Joel McDonald, so, so, so, so many others) to simply ignore the dub through snobbery is to disregard the hours and hours of effort and work put in by hard working, under-appreciated actors across the field. Voice actors are my jam.

So, "Gundam SEED" came out in 2002/2003 but was dubbed by the Ocean Group with Bandai in 2004, released by Beez on DVD. It's a good dub: No "Baccano!" or "Cowboy Bebop" but then again, what is? There are some great actors in this (Andrew Drummond's brother Brian plays the best character: Andrew Waltfeld THE DESERT TIGER, Lisa Ann Beley is the ship's captain, Trevor Devall from "Cowboy Bebop" and "Team America" as Mu La Flaga, Samuel Vincent as one of the two leads and, for some god-damned reason Brad "Light Yagami" Swaile as one of the best characters) as well as some lesser known names in the industry but also great in their parts. Chantal Strand is a standout as Lacus Clyne.

The dub was an excellent work, and my first exposure to the series, it's great.

The series was released on DVD, but had a rather short run: the always excellent Beez released it in the ever delightful format of five episodes per disc and one disc per box, their usual M.O.

I am going somewhere with this, bear with me.

So far so good.

In 2014 the series was re-released in HD, fine. Excellent! More of Beez's back catalogue coming out again and to the forefront is always a good thing.

However.

The dub was redone.

The actors, for the most part, were completely replaced from the top down. Gone were Matt Hill and Samuel Vincent as Kira and Athrun, gone were Drummond and Swaile. Everybody has been changed, right down to the lesser known actors playing some major parts in the series.

And they are the people who I want to talk about.

Bill Switzer, Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley are not ever going to be household names, nor ever known truly amongst the clique-like cult who follow weaboo shit. But I am going to focus on these three people for a moment.

Respectively, in the Ocean Dub, they play Sai Argyle, Lt. Badgiruel and Captain Murrue Ramius, all fairly major characters in the series.

And they were replaced.

Bye, so long, farewell, hope that you got something out of the experience.

This isn't about rambling about how "the new dub sucks" or "Grrrr, change is bad" (well, maybe the latter a little) because, in all honesty, I haven't watched it. Heck, maybe it's fantastic!

But on a more philosophical level, I guess, consider this:

Mr Switzer, Ms Johns and Ms Beley have put a lot of work, time and effort into those parts, they're actors underappreciated, underpaid and glossed over in an already niche field, and then the one big piece of art they get to do, the one big part they have to be remembered and loved, is forgotten, soon to be washed away by the new dub. Sounds dramatic, sure, but now in future should Gundam SEED be sought out by people hoping to catch up on Gundam (though, why you'd start with "Gundam SEED" like a moron when the fantabulously gay "Gundam Wing" exists I shall never know) or just picked up and watched it's more likely that one will watch the remastered dub, and Mr Switzer and co will be banished and forgotten by history.

I guess what I wanted to say was simple:

Remember forgotten art, remember obscure actors, writers, producers and the like. All art has meaning, be it terrible, great or forgotten. Every piece of art has effort and love put into it by some people.

Don't let Bill Switzer and Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley be mere forgotten footnotes.

Buy a DVD of something obscure and forgotten. Remember the effort put into it.

[lucindarobinsonvevo]

Bill Switzer as Mitchell Taylor in Eerie Indiana: The Other Dimension (1998)

[wiersema1]

Dutch Lion's 2022-'23 NFL Playoffs Preview

The 2022 NFL Playoffs are stranger than usual. Who will win it all despite the Damar Hamlin situation possibly providing a unique neutral-site location for the AFC Championship? Dutch Lion explores the possibilities... and the history.

Dutch Lion’s 2022-’23 NFL Playoffs Preview We’re in the midst of the 2022-23 NFL Playoffs and it’s time to preview and predict what’s gonna happen from here on out. You realize there are only seven games left in the NFL season. We’ve got four games this weekend in the Divisional Round, next week’s AFC and NFC Championship games, and then Super Bowl LVII (57) two weeks after that. Frigid winds,…

[insidethestardc]

Ranking the Cowboys' head coaches in franchise history Up until the mid-1990s and early 2000s, the Dallas Cowboys were one of those teams where you could count the franchise's head coaches on one hand. At the time, the only coaches to ever coach the t... #DallasCowboys

[ear-worthy]

Hobo Code Audio Drama Debuts: There's No Place Like...Riding The Rails?

When any genre of art or media is described as "different," there is a logical next question. Good different? Bad different? Weird different? Breathtakingly different?

That last description is the one I'd use for Hobo Code, which is a four-part limited "magical-realist" series about two hobos (an acerbic rambler and a self-ordained monk) and a young girl with a best friend who lives in a coffee can. It's a journey spanning from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, all the way to the Great Recession of 2008, that examines human cycles - whether it’s generational trauma or economic crises.

If that isn't different enough, the audio drama also features an ancient, blind, half-senile/three-quarters-feral hobo mystic. Even without description of dramatic chaos and entropy, this audio drama is funny, endearing, sharp-witted, and an acerbic commenter on the human condition.

This superb audio drama stars Becky Poole (Strange Planet), Corey Rieger (Out of the Furnace), and Jake Robertson (The Sound of Liberty) and features Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping) and Susan Ruttan (LA Law, Sprung). These are esteemed and talented actors, and they display their acting chops with a ferocity that can hypnotize listeners.

The music acts as its own character in this audio drama, with an original score steeped in folk/Americana music made by Maesa Pullman.

The audio drama was written by Paul Pakler and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Shane Portman, who comes primarily from the animated kids world. Hobo Code was independently funded through Portman's production company, Hammer Canyon, in collaboration with executive producing partner David Switzer.

Portman explains: "The idea for Hobo Code sprang from an idea that Paul Pakler and I were carrying around for a while. The concept revolved around these three characters; a displaced young girl with a mystical friend in a coffee can, an acerbic gadabout, and a self-ordained monk. We didn’t have a story for them, but we knew we wanted to place them in the 1930s. So, while building out the character’s backstories, we also started delving into research of the time period. And those two avenues converged into the idea of exploring the cycles of generational trauma and economic crises."

Perhaps Portman's unique childhood had something to do with his distinctive artistic voice. Shane Portman was born at the New London naval submarine base hospital in Connecticut. Just three months later, his father was transferred to Norfolk, VA. He grew up in various homes in Norfolk before moving to Leesburg, VA and, then, finally winding up in Windsor, OH.

 Shane Portman is also the director of development for Bix Pix Entertainment, the award-winning stop-motion animation studio in Sun Valley, California.

When I asked Shane about the comfort level of the actors with audio-only acting, he answered, "Our fabulous sound engineers -- Kevin Cleland in LA and Erik Nyquist in NYC -- were able to create setups so that our actors could record scenes together in real time. On top of that, a majority of the actors already had voiceover experience. So, the record sessions were intimate and connected."

The sound production of Hobo Code is inspired and technically brilliant with One Thousand Birds (OTB), an award-winning Los Angeles production studio, creating the sound design.

Shane adds: "We wanted Hobo Code to be as immersive and lived-in as possible, and OTB took that note and really elevated the series in equally vast and subtle ways."

I asked Shane about the use of the word "Hobo" which is not well known today and reflected a world long gone.

"How did you overcome that generational distinction?" I asked.

Shane replied: "That’s a great question. Honestly, the mystique and folklore around hobos, the Dust Bowl, and the 1930s in America are topics that really fascinate us. This quintessentially American idea of escaping to ride the rails is filled with such a sense of adventure and independence. We also love Woody Guthrie! Maybe Paul and I just have weird historical obsessions…"

Shane continues: "The writer William Faulkner said, 'The past is never dead. It’s not even past.' Our goal was to create vividly interesting characters and steep them in this rich setting, while simultaneously punching holes in that mythology to expose the deeper historical and emotional truths being glossed over. And while people might not have an awareness of this specific subculture or name, the emotions, themes, and experiences will be (hopefully) universal."

Podcasting is no different from any other medium. Copycatting is often the most frictionless way to success, exerting the least amount of creative effort. Podcasters want to be the next Joe Rogan (aim higher), Alex Cooper (aim much higher) or the three Smartless celebs (appropriate mentors).

Hobo Code is an audio drama that breaks all the rules, mixes and matches genres and generations, and transforms familiar themes into proto-magical mythologies that define us. Since when is a coffee can an imaginary friend?

It is a trailer and four episodes of pure creative effort. Listen. Be different in a good way.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 2.14

Beer Birthdays

Michael Sedlmayr (1848)

Alvin M. Hemrich (1870)

Benedict Frank Haberle (1888)

Denny Conn (1952)

Gregg Wiggins (1954)

Lew Bryson (1959)

Kristi Switzer (1965)

Chuck Silva (1967)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Tim Buckley; rock musician (1946)

Florence Henderson; actor (1934)

Thomas Malthus; economist (1766)

Lois Maxwell; actor (1927)

Simon Pegg; actor, comedian, writer (1970)

Famous Birthdays

Mel Allen; sportscaster (1913)

Jules Asner; model, television personality (1968)

Jack Benny; comedian (1894)

Carl Bernstein; journalist (1944)

Drew Bledsoe; New England Patriots QB (1972)

Michael Bloomberg; clueless businessman, politician (1942)

Odds Bodkin; storyteller (1953)

Lara Croft; Tomb Raider game character (1968)

Frederick Douglass; writer, abolitionist (1817)

Hugh Downs; television host (1921)

George Ferris; inventor, Ferris Wheel inventor (1859)

Zach Galligan; actor, comedian (1964)

Frank Harris; writer (1856)

Woody Hayes; football coach (1913)

Freddie Highmore; actor (1992)

Gregory Hines; actor, dancer (1946)

Jimmy Hoffa; union leader (1913)

Kevin Keegan; soccer player (1951)

Jim Kelly; Buffalo Bills QB (1960)

Margaret Knight; inventor (1838)

Porsche Lynn; porn actor (1962)

Vic Morrow; actor (1929)

Murray the K; D.J. (1922)

George Jean Nathan; writer (1882)

Alan Parker; film director (1942)

Edward Platt; actor (1916)

Thelma Ritter; actor (1905)

Anna Howard Shaw; suffrage leader (1847)

Skeezix; cartoon character (1921)

Jo Jo Starbuck; ice skater (1951)

Katherine Stinson; aviator (1891)

Teller; comedian, magician (1948)

Rob Thomas; rock musician (1972)

Meg Tilly; actor (1960)

Johann Werner; German mathematician (1468)

Charles Wilson; English physicist (1869)

Fritz Zwicky; Swiss astronomer (1898)

[tenaciouspostfun]

Stories

Submitted



Theater Review



Off Broadway

"Ode To The Wasp Woman" at Actors Temple Theatre is a very up and down play that has as many good things in it as it does pitfalls. The story has its premise in four actors who died prematurely. Sean Young who plays Susan Cabot, Douglass Everett Davis is George Reeves, Payton Georgiana is Barbra Payton and Josh Alscher is Alfalfa from "The little Rascals" fame.

Rider McDowell has written this interesting play that points to the difficulty of making it in Hollywood; once you make it, if your lucky enough, it is staying on top that becomes the real challenge. As a childhood star, Carl Switzer could not find success beyond The Little Rascals, George Reeves was typecast and had difficulty getting any jobs after his role in "Superman". Both Switzer and Reeves would die from gunfire. In the case of Barbra Payton and Susan Cabot, their lives would take a turn for the worse because of life circumstances.Payton would face sexual abuse as a thirteen year old and her wild ways led to her downfall once she became a starlit. In Cabot's case, her world would fall apart when she delivered a baby that would be a Dwarf. Obsessed with making her son, Timmy taller by using human growth hormones, it drove him insane at the same time. He would eventually kill his mother in a fit of rage.

Rider McDowell who wrote and directed this play has some inconsistencies in both. Some of the blocking in this play are questionable, as is the sound in the play. Where simple movements become overdone, the prerecording in the play were awful. The lighting was very supportive throughout the evening (Maarten Cornelis) and the costumes were well done by Pearl Gopalani. In Christian Fleming's scenic design, the constant changing of the room was a distraction to the flow of this production.

While there were four stories, two were exceptional; the first (Alfalfa) and the third (George Reeves). Payton Georgiana and Anna Telfer were outstanding as were Davis and Alscher. As the lead bill Sean Young at times struggled with her lines and her acting consistency.David Wenzel was consistent in his various roles as was Rita Louise. Jonathan Hartman was erratic in his performance throughout the play.

As a former investigative reporter, Rider McDowell gave us that feeling in his play. He approaches the writing with a macabre angel to it. The lives of the actors before us are laid out as a TV police show with not a lot of emotion from the actors which stems from the shows direction. In the shows 120 minutes we get a potpourri of the four actors lives and not a lot of depth to them.

"Ode" was a very mixed bag... it brought back the old time actors which had a good vibe to it and yet it just didn't go deep enough into the lives. A good example of this is the writing on actor Barbra Payton. We get a small feel into her abuse as an adolescent but writer Rider McDowell only scratches the surface as to how it affected her in later years. We see that she became a B actor, was that solely of her bad choices in picking movies? Was it because she lacked talent? We are told she is blackballed after coming out with an affair with Bob Hope but we never fully are told the whole reason as to why she went into abject poverty and self destruction.

Sean Young, Actors Temple Theatre, Off Broadway, New York City, Barbra Payton, George Reeves, Superman, Hollywood Land, WPIX Chanel 11, Sweeney Todd, Will Swanson, Some Like it Hot, Hamilton, The Lion King, Harry Potter, Aladdin, Spamelot.

Words: 618

[squirls1025]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: The Bootlegger's Boy Hardcover By Switzer, Barry Signed Autographed. (T1).

[kaciejhodges]

Dennis Sprouse

Dennis Sprouse 67, of Amarillo TX stepped from this earth to his eternal home June 12, 2023.  Dennis was born to William “Bill” D. Sprouse and Rutha B. Sprouse February 26, 1956, in Oklahoma.

Dennis was a man that enjoyed the simplicity of life, family and friendship. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, he spoke with intentionality. A sign painter by trade, his skill and giftedness to letter and pinstripe just about everything allowed him to not only travel the country painting race cars, boats, semi-trucks and anything else someone would want a touch of custom artwork on, it allowed him to build friendships with people from every walk of life, known as “Brush master” by many he had a following that stretched far beyond the Texas panhandle, he has been described as a local legend in the area, especially in the many car and motorcycle clubs and individuals that had the privilege to have his handy work done on their vehicle, during those paint session he would share stories of hard lessons learned, special moments he encountered with people, he was full of great wisdom. If Dennis called you friend, you had a friend for life. After many years of as he would say “Ramblin around” he met and married the Love of his life Nancy, and for the next 30 years they shared a love that many could only dream of, he would say everything I do I do for “momma” as he lovingly referred to Nancy.

Dennis was preceded in death by his parents William and Rutha Sprouse, one sister Dorothy Whiteside, and his beloved wife Nancy Sprouse.

Dennis is survived by his sisters Theresa Shirley, Mary Butler, Deborah Switzer, Brenda Raven; his children Charo Dee La Rosa, Deborah Moore, Shauna Castro, David Kinzer; one stepson Robert Burton and wife Darlene; multiple grandchildren, great- grandchildren and many, many friends.

Celebration of life service will be held Tuesday June 27th at 10:00 am @ Thompson Park Picnic Area #24.

The family requests that you bring your vehicles Dennis painted.

Via https://lighthousefunerals.com/dennis-sprouse/

source https://lighthousefunerals1.weebly.com/blog/dennis-sprouse

[michaelibaugh]

Dennis Sprouse

Dennis Sprouse 67, of Amarillo TX stepped from this earth to his eternal home June 12, 2023.  Dennis was born to William “Bill” D. Sprouse and Rutha B. Sprouse February 26, 1956, in Oklahoma.

Dennis was a man that enjoyed the simplicity of life, family and friendship. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, he spoke with intentionality. A sign painter by trade, his skill and giftedness to letter and pinstripe just about everything allowed him to not only travel the country painting race cars, boats, semi-trucks and anything else someone would want a touch of custom artwork on, it allowed him to build friendships with people from every walk of life, known as “Brush master” by many he had a following that stretched far beyond the Texas panhandle, he has been described as a local legend in the area, especially in the many car and motorcycle clubs and individuals that had the privilege to have his handy work done on their vehicle, during those paint session he would share stories of hard lessons learned, special moments he encountered with people, he was full of great wisdom. If Dennis called you friend, you had a friend for life. After many years of as he would say “Ramblin around” he met and married the Love of his life Nancy, and for the next 30 years they shared a love that many could only dream of, he would say everything I do I do for “momma” as he lovingly referred to Nancy.

Dennis was preceded in death by his parents William and Rutha Sprouse, one sister Dorothy Whiteside, and his beloved wife Nancy Sprouse.

Dennis is survived by his sisters Theresa Shirley, Mary Butler, Deborah Switzer, Brenda Raven; his children Charo Dee La Rosa, Deborah Moore, Shauna Castro, David Kinzer; one stepson Robert Burton and wife Darlene; multiple grandchildren, great- grandchildren and many, many friends.

Celebration of life service will be held Tuesday June 27th at 10:00 am @ Thompson Park Picnic Area #24.

The family requests that you bring your vehicles Dennis painted.

source https://lighthousefunerals.com/dennis-sprouse/

source https://lighthousefunerals1.wordpress.com/2023/06/23/dennis-sprouse/

[biglisbonnews]

The Bloody (and Haunted) History of the Missouri State Penitentiary Nearly a hundred years before Alcatraz, there was the Missouri State Penitentiary. On an unseasonably warm afternoon in Jefferson City, Missouri, the January sun shines high over the prison turned historic site. Inside, the limestone walls cast chills. Longtime resident and penitentiary tour guide Jenny Switzer leads the way down a dank, narrow corridor. “This is H Hall,” she says, pausing, with an air of reverence. To the left, long rows of cells, stacked four stories high, line the unit. The iron-bar doors peel with layers of chipped paint. “Everyone has their favorite housing unit,” Switzer says. “This is mine.” Opened in 1836, Missouri State Penitentiary was the oldest operating prison west of the Mississippi River until it closed in 2004. Though hard to imagine today, with its crumbling grounds and empty guard towers, the penitentiary was once considered a well-oiled, self-contained town. But countless injuries and deaths, plus a major inmate riot in 1954, led Time Magazine to call the prison “the bloodiest 47 acres in America.” Today, guides and guests alike attest to the apparitions, unusual sounds, and eerie vibes filling the storied halls. Switzer, who grew up in Jefferson City, feels a deep personal connection to the prison. “This place was here all my life,” she says. “But the moment I stepped in here, I was obsessed.” For eight years, Switzer has guided thousands of visitors on historic—and paranormal—tours, some overnight. From pokes in the back when no one was nearby to the unmistakable chink of invisible coins falling against a cement floor, she has experienced dozens of paranormal encounters and witnessed several ghostly apparitions. With every group, she shares the prison’s stories—women inmates who went on to fight for prisoners’ rights, executions by cyanide, inmate ingenuity and escape attempts, mistreatments and floggings, and even the story of one boxing heavyweight champion of the world—it all happened here. Back in H Hall, Switzer starts on the story of infamous prisoner Kate Richards O’Hare. “Kate was a pretty prominent woman before she came in, and even more so after she left,” Switzer says. A brazen socialist, O’Hare was thrown in a cell in H Hall, now Housing Unit 1, for violating the Espionage Act of 1917. “She was—can I say it?—she was a badass,” Switzer says, adding that she has a first-edition copy of “In Prison,” the book O’Hare wrote about her time in the penitentiary. “It’s my most prized possession.” Then, mid-sentence, she stops. “Oh, oh, oh! Did you just hear that?” Switzer says. Her eyes widen. Clank. Clank, clank. “It’s coming from up there,” she says, pointing to the third floor. “You want me to come up there?” she hollers toward the ceiling. At the top of the iron staircase, she finds an old window latch and a swift breeze: the culprit—this time. Before the infamous inmates and ghostly apparitions, there was one man and an idea. In 1831, Jefferson City was a fragile capital city competing with nearby metropolises, like Sedalia and St. Louis, for the seat of Missouri government. Governor John Miller was convinced that opening and operating a state penitentiary would secure the city’s position. Two years later, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill to establish the facility, and construction began. In 1836, the prison’s first inmate, Wilson Eidson, arrived, sentenced for stealing a watch. By 1932, with roughly 5,300 inmates, the Missouri State Penitentiary held the largest inmate population in the U.S. and was considered one of the most successful prisons in the country. On average, inmates cost the state just 11 cents per day. “They were very proud of that,” Switzer says. “That was a gold star.” On good days, inmates sought a sense of normalcy. They formed baseball teams, played miniature golf, attended chapel, and worked long days in one of dozens of factories—a major regional economic boon. Overall, though, conditions were grim. Inmates were subject to intense abuse and neglect. “[The guard] could whip a man for literally anything or nothing at all—look at him wrong in line; he's having a bad day—he's gonna take it out on you,” says Switzer. In 1954, two inmates feigned sickness to attract attention. When two guards entered the hall, the inmates overpowered them and stole their keys. The two ran along the cellblock releasing other inmates as they pursued a jailhouse informant in Housing Unit 3. “As waves of rioters stormed the deputy warden’s office, armed troopers on the roof were finally forced to open fire with machine guns and riot guns to force the desperate prisoners to flee the prison yard,” Missouri Highway Patrolman Walter Wilson later wrote. “Several convicts were injured by gun fire.” Following the riot, a middle section of bars was added to Unit 3, along with extra caging. Other infamous inmates served shorter stints. Alongside O’Hare in Housing Unit 1, activist Emma Goldman served two years for opposing the draft during World War I. A pioneering champion of women's equality, workers' rights, and free universal education, Goldman was considered one of the most dangerous anarchists in the country at that time. Years before he would kill five people outside the Union Railway Station in the historic Kansas City Massacre, infamous bank robber, Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd, was locked up in Jefferson City in 1925 for payroll robbery. While it presented its share of mistreatments and hardships, the prison also afforded some opportunity. Charles Liston, an Arkansas-born repeat thief was thrown into Housing Unit 4 at age 22 for armed robbery, his first serious conviction. During his time outside the cell, Charles Liston – or “Sonny” as the world would later come to know him – linked up with Father Alois Stevens, a priest who oversaw the prison gym. Stevens reportedly marveled at Liston’s physicality and took him under his wing, teaching him the techniques of boxing. Two years into his sentence, Liston was freed on parole and began his ascent to world heavyweight boxing champion. During his career, he faced many notable boxers of the era, including Muhammad Ali. Just beyond Sonny’s cell, down a steep staircase, Switzer stops. “This is the dungeon,” she says. “[Guards] would whip these men within inches of their life, and most times, they spent time in here.” She steps inside a shallow hallway, just three or four feet wide, and reveals eight more cells. To the left, she swings open a rusted gate, inside only stone walls and floor. “Story goes, they were putting a dozen, eighteen men down here, with no bedding, no bunks, no blankets, no mats, no toilets,” she says. Inside the cell, for effect, she turns off an exposed lightbulb, the only source of light. Palm to nose, in here, the eyes can only see black. “I’m from Missouri, and this is a cave state,” Switzer says. “We call this cave dark.” Walking out, a plaque on the wall recalls the years that J.B. “Firebug” Johnson served in the dungeon: 1883 to 1900, for setting a fire that destroyed prison property and caused the deaths of several inmates. After prison, he wrote a book, “Buried Alive; or, Eighteen Years in the Missouri Penitentiary.” Just down the hall from Firebug’s cell, during her first night on the job, Switzer had an encounter with an entity. “I’m standing in front of the door, and I go to flick the light off, and, immediately, I felt something on my right. I felt his face right here,” she says, holding her right palm just next to her cheek. “I can feel him breathing.” “And I'm thinking, OK, you’re imagining this, but you could not pay me any amount of money to turn my head and look toward that door where the dead-end is—he's standing right here, every time.” Housing Unit 3, a caged, open-air block, is home to cell 45, where James Earl Ray, who would go on to murder the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., served time—until he escaped. In 1959, Ray was sentenced to 20 years after holding up a St. Louis Kroger. In 1967, he capitalized on his job in the prison bakery and snuck into a large box used to ship bread. When a truck arrived to pick up a supply, the bread box—with Ray inside—left the prison grounds. Just a year later, in April 1968, Ray gunned down Dr. King. The fascinating stories are all that remain of the thousands of inmates who spent time locked inside these walls. In 2004, the penitentiary closed its doors officially and transferred its inmates to the Jefferson City Correctional Center, just a few miles away. Today, tours run from March through November, and guides like Switzer continue the legacy, sharing the stories of anguish and ingenuity, of tragedy and triumph, that ooze from the cells of the Missouri State Penitentiary. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/haunted-history-of-the-missouri-state-penitentiary

[alboo]

My disillusionment with Brent Venables first year - have some sympathy for the devil's out there (alboo is Satan in this post)

[apology have to cut and paste music link at bottom]

History - the source of doubt

Caveat: I love Brent Venables and always have. Not until BV hired as head coach, did I forgive Bob Stoops for running him off and replacing him with Mike Stoops. I still love and support Brent Venables. I think those that want him gone a long with Jeff Lebby and Bill Bedenbaugh aren't thinking.

Now the Bile. Coach Venables has often said - "You only get one chance to do it right the first time" (or something like that) so looking at history here are the first year records of our most "successful" (subjective) coaches

Bennie Owen 7-2

Bud Wilkinson 7-2-1

Barry Switzer 10-0-1

Bob Stoops 7-5

Lincoln Riley 12-2 (Yeah Bob graciously handed him a championship quality team)

Now the first year record of coaches we (modern era) came to despise or see as grossly incompetent because of their record and also in some instances personality (GG, HS)

Gary Gibbs 7-4 (winning 65% for career but had a chip on his shoulder about not being appreciated. Last season was 6-6 in 94, after we had cut him 5 years of slack previous and 93 we thought he had turned the corner)

Howard Schnellenberger 5-5-1 (to my great shame I will admit I was strongly in favor) He almost killed several players in 2 a days. Had players sign document they would practice much longer than allocated hours which exhausted them. Finally, several rumors existed he may have had a drinking problem.

John Blake 3-8 Career winning 35% and never had winning season

And so we sit here 10 games into the 2022 season and my beloved Brent Venables has a 5-5 record and the ignominy of the greatest loss ever to Texas 49-0. Starting out on the wrong side of history.

https://youtu.be/GgnClrx8N2k

[kwebtv]

Eerie, Indiana:  The Other Dimension  -  Fox Kids Network -  February 7, 1998 - May 30, 1998

Science Fiction / Fantasy (15 episodes)

Running Time:  30 minutes

Stars:

Bill Switzer as Mitchell Taylor

Daniel Clark as Stanley Hope

Deborah Odell as Mrs. Taylor

Lindy Booth as Carrie Taylor

Bruce Hunter as Edward Taylor

Neil Crone as Mr. Crawford

[davidssecretlover]

Bowie as Mr. Rice in Mr. Rice' s Secret', 1998-2000

with co-actor Bill Switzer

[cuddlebreak]

I liked the first Lassie movie (Lassie Come Home), then I didn’t like the second one (Son of Lassie) then I really like the third (Courage of Lassie)