#richard O'Brian

[type-40-nightingales]

I COULD OF MER RICHARD O BRIAN BUT SOMEONE TOLS ME IT WAS 18+

IT QASNT 18 PLUS FUCK ME

[oxymoron-pleonasma]

Richard O'Brian

[thekenobee]

I have read Sharpe’s Prey

(and I come bearing gifts)

[dc-vs-marvel-tournament]

[artphotographyofmen]

Plastic Man by Richard Wawiernia

[randomrichards]

TWISTERS:

Storm chaser returns

Clashes with a YouTube star

Taming tornadoes

[nitpickrider]

My god even the slightest amount of imagination of what the Nazi empire could do with even a small platoon of Plastic Men... Eel is probably one of those heroes who is DEEPLY aware of what his abilities could be capable of in the wrong hands. Freedom Fighters 1

[cinesludge]

Movie #94 of 2023: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

[deonald]

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[stampedestring]

(eBay source)

(eBay source)

An article on Clint Eastwood (Rawhide): "This Cowboy Feels He's Got It Made", TV Guide, February 4–10, 1961, pp. 8–11.

I typed out the text from this to make it easier to read, but I didn't check if it was already floating elsewhere on the Internet before I did this—whoops. Highlights:

Mention of Eastwood singing on an episode and preparing to cut a record (presumably Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites, 1963)

Eastwood complaining about how annoying his long hair is and how he can't wait to get it back to a crew cut (I was surprised by this, considering his hair in the 70's)

How he got started on his pre-Rawhide career from 1954 to 1958. "'You,' said the assistant director, using the line generally reserved for pretty high school girls, 'oughta be in pictures.'"

Article (typed out) below the cut!

THIS COWBOY FEELS HE'S GOT IT MADE

Clint Eastwood of 'Rawhide,' an amiable young giant, just wants that cattle drive to go on and on and on

The dimly lighted outdoor set on MGM's vast Stage 22 made it difficult to distinguish the many figures that milled around the off-stage area. It was the Rawhide set, which differs little from any other set except for the small collection of tired-looking horses and the large collection of unkempt actors dressed in soiled cowboy outfits. The trim-looking script girl seemed oddly out of place.

Clint Eastwood, the tall, almost gangling young actor who plays Rowdy Yates, shuffled his feet and introduced a visitor to his co-star, deep-voiced, ebullient Eric Fleming.

"Yar," said Fleming to the visitor. "Are you anybody important? If you are, we'll find you a chair. Otherwise you can stand up like the rest of us peasants."

Fleming wandered off to study the various bits and scraps of paper to which he habitually reduces his script, and Eastwood unshuffled his feet long enough to pull up a couple of canvas chairs.

"I was sleeping," he said sheepishly. "You should have woke me up. Went back to the dressing room just to lie down for a bit."

The name Rowdy fits Eastwood about as well as Pollyanna fits Alfred Hitchcock. Even when completely awake, his manner is mild to the point of being apologetic. An amiable, quiet-spoken giant (6 feet 4) of 30, Eastwood likes to describe himself as "dull but happy." He has been married for the past seven years to model Maggie Johnson, lives in a San Fernando Valley ranch house, spends most of his off time prancing about in the surf at the beach or sitting home listening to his homemade hi-fi set.

A gentle soul, Eastwood is the kind of man who carefully picks struggling bees and grasshoppers from the surface of a swimming pool and returns them to their own element. "I always feel," he says a little defensively, "that they were put here for some purpose and it's not my business to let them drown."

Eastwood is, in fact, the antithesis of the hard-driving, ambitious young men who populate most of the other TV Westerns now on the air. They incorporate themselves, branch out into other businesses, itch to "do a play on Broadway," try their hand at directing and even producing. They are the Richard Boones, the Hugh O'Brians, the Robert Hortons, the Jim Arnesses, the Steve McQueens. And there are others.

Eastwood's medium-sized ambition at the moment, with Rawhide ready to begin a three-month layoff, was to star in a farcical French play for a Hollywood little-theater group. "We'd only do it for a couple of weeks—just for laughs," he explained. [It never came off, even for laughs.—Ed.]

"Then I'd like maybe to do a feature, something that might get me away from Westerns. I don't mean that I'm any drawing-room kind of actor or anything like that, but I always used to wear my hair in a crew cut and it would be kind of nice to get back to it again.

"They tell me the guys really did wear their hair long like this in the old trail days, but I don't see how they stood it. I would have sheared mine off as close as I could get it. Darn stuff picks up more dirt."

When Rawhide temporarily ceased production in mid-December (the series' comfortable backlog of episodes already filmed spurred the layoff to give producer Charles Marquis Warren time to work on his new Gunslinger series), Eastwood had done some [illegible digits] episodes of the hour-long films over a period of two years and was still looking forward to "doing as many more as the viewers care to put up with."

"I figure," he mused, "that I've done a little something for Rawhide, but I also figure they've done a little something for me. I have my beefs now and then, like anybody, but nothing serious. I'm under contract to CBS and sometimes they won't let me do an outside show because of what they call 'sponsor conflict.' I figure this is a little farfetched, but it's really not all that important, so I just go along."

Last September Rowdy Yates sang a song in a Rawhide episode. This has resulted in negotiations with several record companies, commercial enterprises dedicated to the proposition that while Frank Sinatra is good, anyone else who can sell records for whatever reason also is good.

(Proof of this, as any hapless parent with a teen-age offspring will willingly testify, lies in the fact that 13 of TV's Western heroes, most of them hitherto utterly inexperienced in the art of singing, have made at least one record. Eastwood makes the 14th—and this figure does not include any of the singing cowboys of prehistoric times, such as Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Jimmy Wakely.)

Eastwood's flirtation with Tin Pan Alley is not to be construed as an indication that he is about to mount up and ride off in seven different directions. Eastwood likes Rawhide. He is even proud of it, which is a far cry from the average Western hero, who can't wait until his contract is up and school is out.

"I like to think," he says reflectively, "that Rawhide is at least honest. I mean, we're doing stories as they pretty much happened. Oh, occasionally I guess we hoke one up for dramatic purposes, but generally speaking we're doing the kind of things that guys on the cattle drives really did."

Warren, whose experience goes back to the first year of Gunsmoke and Jim Arness, says of Eastwood: "He's more than just a personality, I think. He's an actor. A quite fine actor, in fact. Like any other actor, he beefs now and again but they're generally justifiable beefs. If he thinks his part is too small in any given script, I'll hear about it.

"I think next season we may work on a strictly alternating basis, Eastwood to carry an entire show, then Fleming to carry one. That'll keep 'em both happy."

Eastwood fell into show business rather easily. While studying at Los Angeles City College in 1954 he also was holding down a part-time job at a filling station. One of his customers invited him to a cocktail party, and there he met an assistant director from Universal-International.

"You," said the assistant director, using the line generally reserved for pretty high school girls, "oughta be in pictures." A few days later he was, if a screen test can be considered a picture, and the test resulted in a contract and a series of insignificant parts in equally insignificant pictures. Remarkably, considering his height, looks and inexperience, he was cast in only one Western, and in it had just one line.

Leaving Universal after a year and a half, Eastwood signed on with RKO and found himself getting "Introducing Clint Eastwood" billing opposite Carol Channing in a Ginger Rogers movie called "The First Traveling Saleslady." The picture was not a success. Indeed, RKO folded shortly thereafter.

After a brief stint at Warner Brothers, where he appeared, briefly, in another unsuccessful picture, "Lafayette Escadrille," Eastwood wandered into TV via a role in a Highway Patrol episode. Late in 1956 he got into the now syndicated West Point series, going to New York to appear in "about half a dozen of them. The trouble with that series was that practically nothing ever happens to West Point cadets in real life. They march, go to classes, play football, study and go to bed. We'd open an episode with some strong dramatic line like 'You stole my laundry!' And where do you go from there?"

In short, Eastwood's "career" between 1954 and 1958 was about as fruitful and exciting as a postponed PTA meeting. One day early in 1958, however, he stopped by at CBS to see a friend of his wife's. Bob Sparks, then a CBS television executive, also picked the same time to drop in to see the same friend. He stared at Eastwood, took him back to his own office and had him read for a role that had been stumping producer Warren. The role was that of Rowdy Yates.

By that fall, 10 episodes of Rawhide, all an hour long, and expensive, had been filmed and there were still no takers. Eastwood got permission to do a Maverick over at Warner Brothers, the only other TV Western in which he has ever appeared. Rawhide finally got on the air in January 1959, and he has been with it ever since.

Says Clint: "I wasn't going anywhere when this show came along. Now I guess I'm a star. Eventually, like anyone else, I'd sort of like to branch out a bit, do other things. I don't figure Rawhide will last forever, but I don't figure to walk out on it, either."

[chernobog13]

Geoff Hunt's cover painting for the W.W. Norton & Company edition of Master and Commander (1969), the first of Patrick O'Brian's excellent Aubrey-Maturin series of novels set during the Napoleonic Wars.

The cover recreates the scene of Royal Navy lieutenant Jack Aubrey, newly promoted to Master and Commander (a ship's captain in all but actual rank) being escorted to his new command, HM Sloop Sophie, a 14-gun ship.

I heartily recommend the Aubrey-Maturin novels to everyone. You don't have to be into historical fiction, or a fan of maritime stories, to enjoy this series. The characters, O'Brian's understanding of the times, and his terrific writing and wit make each book an absolute joy.

Many people call Bernard Cornwell the greatest wrier of historical fiction today, and I agree with them. I always enjoy Cornwell's books, especially the Richard Sharpe series (set during the same time period as the Aubrey-Maturin novels). But as good as Cornwell is, O'Brian is even better!

[thiefbird]

Despite all my better judgement, I appear to be into Boat Media. Having thoroughly enjoyed Temeraire and Aubrey-Maturin, I am now looking to broaden my horizons. Do have any recommendations for further reading?

I do!

I don't think CS Forester has quite the same voice as an author as Patrick O'Brian, but the Hornblower series holds a fond place in my heart - I actually recommend the TV series with Ioan Gruffudd, Jamie Bamber, Richard Lindsey, and Paul McGann before the books, if you like the Aubreyad, which I rarely do; it has a bit more of the feel of daily life added to it than the books originally did, which may well have been the influence of O'Brian's writing, and it is an affectionate adaptation.

I have not read this yet, but @gabrielnovakgoestomyschool has been badgering me to read a Boat Media, the name of which escapes me, so I will have them give propaganda for it in the notes.

I do not know if this is based on a book, but the miniseries To The Ends of the Earth was very good!

Similarly, I have not read The Terror, and I have heard that the show is better than the book, but I really enjoyed the first two episodes of The Terror! Unfortunately it is a show that requires me to actually pay attention, so it is taking a long time for me to watch it because I don't often have the spoons+time I don't want to be writing rn, but I have heard many good things and few bad.

I haven't read Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, or Moby Dick since high school(and I'm not certain I finished Moby Dick as that was right when my very severe adhd/autistic burnout started) but I very much enjoyed them then!

My last, but certainly not least, recommendation is Gone To Weather, an absolutely stunning webcomic by @focsle (beg pardon for the tag!)!

(And finally, watch this space - I'm working on an original Napoleonic War Boat Media novel, and I hope to have a finished first draft by the end of the year!)

[thealmightyemprex]

Halloweenathon:Elviras Haunted Hills

So a few years ago I watched Elvira Mistress of the Dark and was utterly enchanted by it ,a well deserved cult classic that I found very endearing and heartwarming.So this year I decided to check out Elviras second feature ,which is very diffrent .....But still charmed the hell out of me

This 2001 film follows Elvira (Cassandra Petersen ) and her servent Zhou Zhou (Mary Jo Smith ) as on her way to a show in Paris finds herself in Castle Hellsubus where resides the tortured and brooding Lord Vladimir Hellsubus (Richard O'Brien )

OK so....I hvae to explain what this film is,cause it is NOT a Mistress of the Dark sequel and that might dissappoint some people......What it is ,is something definately in my wheelhouse but kind of niche.....A parody of the Roger Corman/Vincent Price Poe films (With a dash of Hammer ,though mostly Corman ).ITs basically a mix of Fall of the House of Usher and Pit and the Pendulem but Elviras there .Now I LOVE the Corman Poe films and this is a brillaint parody .The common thing said about parody is you MUST parody something you love ,and this is one of the most loving parodys I have seen since Young Frankenstein ,not the funniest,but so loving,with scenes taken directly from USher or Penfulum,the convulated plot ,the crumbling castle ,and especially the hammy acting .I think the most brillaint choice in the film has to be the casting of Richard O'Brian as the Vincent Price type character....Cause he NAILS it ,I mean O'Brian is a spooky cult icon in of himself(I mean he created Rocky Horror for crying out loud ) ,but he absoultely gets the angsty torment and maniacal villainy of a Price character while gobbling up bits of scenery and nailing the humor of the part ,all while doing his own spin,hes not imitating Price ,but he nails the type of character Price excelled at ,he gets the vibe down .The rest of the cast is pretty fun especially Mary Scheer as the villinous wife who is wonderfully over the top and Scott Atkinson who plays the conniving Doctor while doing an impression of George Sanders .Elvira is Elvira ,despite it being a period film she plays it totally modern and I think it works as if Elvira is stuck in one of the movies shes used to hosting on her show .As a comedy it worked for me,mainly cause I got what they were spoofing ,I laughed a good bit ,my three fave bits where the doctor explaining the depraved history of the family and all the ancestors are Richard O Brien while Elvira comments on their activities,O BRiens take on the Vincent Price Pit and the Pendulem monologue ,and especially the handsome heroic stabkle hand played by Gabriel Andronache  who isintentionally dubbed badly by voice acting legend Rob Paulsen

Not all the jokes land and Zhou Zhou feels like a bit of a one note and kind of mean joke .....But those are my only complaints

This is a very fun love letter to the Vincent Price movies of the 60's.If you are a fan of the Corman/Price/Poe films,this is a must watch ,if you like Elvira its a must watch ,if you like Richard O Brian its a must watch and if you are looking for a horror comedy this is a good one .ITs not for every one but its a fun time

@ariel-seagull-wings @themousefromfantasyland

@the-blue-fairie @countesspetofi

@theancientvaleofsoulmaking @filmcityworld1

@amalthea9 @barbossas-wench

@princesssarisa

[farsight-the-char]

Reed could defeat Ralph (but they would be friends, despite this).

Reed could not defeat Plastic Man, and this fact would Anger Reed.

Submitted by @theneonghosts

[nessjo]

20th Anniversary of Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Theatrical release poster

Directed by:

Peter Weir

Screenplay by:

Peter Weir

John Collee

Based on:

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

Produced by:

Samuel Goldwyn Jr.

Duncan Henderson

Peter Weir

Starring:

Russell Crowe

Paul Bettany

Cinematography:

Russell Boyd

Edited by:

Lee Smith

Music by:

Iva Davies

Christopher Gordon

Richard Tognetti

Production companies:

Miramax Films

Universal Pictures

Samuel Goldwyn Films

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

Release date:

November 14, 2003

Running time: 138 minutes

Country: United States

Language: English

Budget: $150 million

Box office: $211.6 million

@itwilliammowett