#spheres 1969

[gensfilmandfashionblog]

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Richard Gordon - The Facemaker - Sphere - 1969

[charlott2n]

Charlotte Genre Guide

My top 5 favorite/recommended albums from each of my favorite genres!

Stoner/Doom Metal

Master of Brutality by Church of Misery (2001)

Variations on a Theme by OM (2005)

Blood Lust by Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats (2011)

Soma by Windhand (2013)

Book of Rituals by Saturniidae (2023)

Dream Pop/Shoegaze

Love Songs for the Chemical Generation by Daniel Land and the Modern Painters (2009)

The Glow by Gold Celeste (2015)

Lucid Express s/t (2021)

Daydream Twins s/t (2022)

A Fusion of Two Hemispheres by Sphere (2022)

Vaporwave

无限渴望 by Virtual Dream Plaza (2016)

一人で by desert sand feels warm at night (2019)

Soul Visioning by MindSpring Memories (2021)

Dream Desert by desert sand feels warm at night (2022)

Desert Memories by desert sand feels warm at night & MindSpring Memories (2023)

Psychedelic Pop

The Satanic Satanist by Portugal. the Man (2009)

Multi-Love by Unknown Mortal Orchestra (2015)

Skiptracing by Mild High Club (2016)

Jinx by Crumb (2019)

Raw Honey by Drugdealer (2019)

Psychedelic Rock

Parachute by The Pretty Things (1970)

In the Mountain in the Cloud by Portugal. the Man (2011)

Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard (2016)

High Visceral Pt 1 by Psychedelic Porn Crumpets (2016)

Face Stabber by Thee Oh Sees (2019)

Progressive Rock

Shine on Brightly by Procol Harum (1968)

Lizard by King Crimson (1970)

Crime of the Century by Supertramp (1974)

Hope by Klaatu (1977)

blomljud by Moon Safari (2008)

Hard Rock

Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath (1970)

The Man Who Sold the World by David Bowie (1970)

Restrictions by Cactus (1971)

Satori by Flower Travellin' Band (1971)

Pieces of Eight by Styx (1979)

Rap

Licensed to Ill by Beastie Boys (1986)

3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul (1989)

The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest (1991)

6 Feet Deep by Gravediggaz (1994)

Shade of Blue by Madlib (2003)

Funk

Hot Pants by James Brown (1971)

Fantastic Planet Soundtrack (1973)

Standing on the Verge of Getting it On by Funkadelic (1974)

Hustle With Speed by The J.B.'s (1975)

Directstep by Herbie Hancock (1979)

Jazz Rock

Chicago Transit Authority by Chicago (1969)

Aja by Steely Dan (1977)

Junta by Phish (1989)

A Thoughtful Collapse by Vathaken (2020)

Middle Hand by Tytus & The Left-Handers (2024)

Jam Band

Rhythms From a Cosmic Sky by Earthless (2007)

Summer Sessions Vol. 2 by Causa Sui (2009)

Solar Corona by The Machine (2009)

The Doomsday Machine by Electric Moon (2011)

299 by Bull of Heaven (2013)

Disco

I Remember Yesterday by Donna Summer (1977)

Dazzle by Dazzle (1979)

Hills of Katmandu by Tantra (1979)

Tako Tsubo by L' Impératrice (2021)

Chorus by Mildlife (2024)

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 41

Adric missed K9 and would write him letters. (Short story: A Boy's Tale)

Tegan missed Nyssa a lot and felt as though Turlough had a bond with the Doctor that she wasn't company to. (Short story: Qualia)

Early Gallifreyans worshipped one of their two moons (Pazithi Gallifreya) as a virgin goddess. (Novel: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible)

After Inquisitor Darkel dismissed the Sixth Doctor's charges from The Trial of a Time Lord, she had to go lie down in a dark room for a while because he and the Valeyard were too much for her. (Short story: The Inquisitor)

There are roughly one million versions of Clara Oswald according to the Encyclopaedia Gallifreya. (Short story: Citation Needed)

The Master tried to interfere with the Fifth Doctor’s regeneration into his Sixth, but the Doctor had psychically called out to his former companions (Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, etc etc), who convinced him to ignore the Master and helped him regenerate. (Audio: Winter; Television: The Caves of Androzani)

The Doctor keeps a copy of Every Gallifreyan Child's Pop-Up Book of Nasty Creatures From Other Dimensions in the TARDIS library. It pops up in four dimensions. (Novel: All-Consuming Fire)

The Fifth Doctor talked so much about River Song after meeting and becoming absolutely enamored with her that Tegan pushed him against the wall and demanded that he stop. (Audio: Expiry Dating)

The Seventh Doctor met Katarina as a young girl. He gave her family enough gold to feed them for a year. (Short story: An Unfulfilled Dream)

In 1969, a journalist named Chrissie Allen did an article on Amelia Williams. Amy told her she wanted to write a story about a young girl lost in New York City, who is scared but will use her magic powers to take on the world. She was very confident when she said the girl was really out there in New York. (Short story: The Girl Who Never Grew Up)

The Eye of Harmony located in the TARDIS is only symbolic of the real Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey. (Novel: The Eight Doctors)

If someone accesses the Eye of Harmony without the Rod, Sash, or Great Key of Rassilon, they will be turned inside out and killed. (Audio: Insurgency)

A young Magnus, who would one day become the War Chief, once tried to drain Artron energy out of a sphere retrieved from the time vortex. He was opposed by the First Doctor, referred to as "Thete," who set the energy free after discovering it was alive. This was considered to be their "falling out" moment. (Comic: Flashback)

The Fifth Doctor has tried to sacrifice himself so often that Nyssa can recognize his blank face as an I'm-about-to-sacrifice-myself face. (Audio: The Darkening Eye)

Each incarnation of the Doctor thinks that they make their own identity, but in reality, the TARDIS knows that their travels are never "accidental." For example, she could have easily returned to 1960s London when the First Doctor was trying to drop off Barbara and Ian, but she said she thought it was more important that he have fun and learn from his human companions who the Doctor actually was. (Short story: What the TARDIS thought of "Time Lord Victorious")

The Doctor's TARDIS bedroom (at least at the time of his Fifth incarnation) had an original Jackson Pollock on the door. It had a four poster bed with awnings, silk sheets, and a toy rabbit. The Fifth Doctor would hang his coat up with a Mickey Mouse hanger and sleep in question mark patterned pajamas. (Novel: Divided Loyalties)

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[cosmonautroger]

Charles Green Shaw - Division Of Spheres (1969)

[mysticstronomy]

CAN WE HARNESS THE FULL ENERGY OF THE SUN??

Blog#343

Wednesday, October 25th, 2023

Welcome back,

Our civilization will need more power in the future. Count on it. The ways we use power today: for lighting, transportation, food distribution and even entertainment would have sounded hilarious and far fetched to our ancestors.

As our technology improves, our demand for power will increase. I have no idea what we'll use it for, but I guarantee we'll want it. Perhaps we'll clean up the oceans, reverse global warming, turn iron into gold, or any number of activities that take massive amounts of energy.

Fossil fuels won't deliver, and they come with some undesirable side effects. Nuclear fuels will only provide so much power until they run out.

We need the ultimate in energy resources. We'll want to harness the entire power of our star. The Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev predicted that a future civilization might eventually harness the power of an entire planet. He called this a Type I civilization.

A Type II would harness the entire energy output of a star. And a Type III civilization would utilize the power of their entire galaxy. So let's consider a Type II civilization.

What would it actually take to harness 100% of the energy from a star? We'd need to construct a Dyson Sphere or Cloud and collect all the solar energy that emanates from it. But could we do better? Could we extract material directly from a star?

You bet, it's the future!

This is an idea known as "stellar lifting". Stealing hydrogen fuel from the Sun and using it for our futuristic energy needs. In fact, the Sun's already doing it… poorly. Stars generate powerful magnetic fields. They twist and turn across the surface of the star, and eject hydrogen into space. But it's just a trickle of material. To truly harness the power of the Sun, we need to get at that store of hydrogen, and speed up the extraction process.

There are a few techniques that might work. You can use lasers to heat up portions of the surface, and increase the volume of the solar wind. You could use powerful magnetic fields to carry plasma away from the Sun's poles into space.Which ever way it happens, once we've got all that hydrogen. How do we use it to get energy? We could combine it with oxygen and release energy via combustion, or we could use it in our space reactors and generate power from fusion.

But the most efficient way is to feed it to a black hole and extract its angular momentum. A highly advanced civilization could siphon material directly from a star and send it onto the ergosphere of a rapidly spinning pet black hole.

Here's Dr. Mark Morris, a Professor of Astronomy at UCLA. He'll explain:

"There is this region, called the ergosphere between the event horizon and another boundary, outside. The ergosphere is a very interesting region outside the event horizon in which a variety of interesting effects can occur. For example, if we had a black hole at our disposal, we could extract energy from spinning black holes by throwing things into the ergosphere and grabbing whatever comes out at even higher speeds."

This is known as the Penrose process, first identified by Roger Penrose in 1969. It's theoretically possible to retrieve 29% of the energy in a rotating black hole. Unfortunately, you also slow it down. Eventually the black hole stops spinning, and you can't get any more energy out of it. But then it might also be possible to extract energy from Hawking radiation; the slow evaporation of black holes over eons. Of course, it's tricky business.

Originally published on phys.org

COMING UP!!

(Saturday, October 28th, 2023)

"HOW DID THE UNIVERSE ELEMENT FORM??"

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers

Episode 1 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 2 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 3 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here

Episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

Apologies for the late posts, A LOT happened like Arleen Sorkin's passing and Kamen Rider Geats ending. So I needed to take a break, but I am back. SPOILERS if you havent seen episode 8 obviously.

We start things off with the captured villains letting out of their prison. We got Silver Banshee, Roundhouse, Heatwave, Livewire, and then eventually we seen Ivo/Parasite and Mist who luckily escaped and is trying to get his friend and sister back. I talked more about in their respective episodes so if you want to read up more about them click on their names.

Task Force X/Suicide Squad is known for exploding the heads of their prisoners teammates if they fuck up a mission (you might have seen it in the live action movies, animated movies, or even read the comics) and MAwS solution to not have it be so gory is to use shock collars.

Cut to Clark who developed super hearing and has not slept for a few days and is on caffeine so he can help the people of Metropolis. The idea of Superman 24/7 has been thrown around in the comics for a while usually saying no Clark deserves a break. He needs to be Clark and not Superman when he can get the chance. If you want to check out the comics that does it I recommend reading Superman #296 to 299 (1979), Who Took the Super out of Superman by writers,Cary Bates, Elliot S. Maggins, penciler, Curt Swan, inker, Bob Oskner, colorist, Carl Gafford, and letterer Ben Oda.

We see in the hologram projector/data sphere thing that Lois took from the League of Lois Lane's displaying Overman wrecking the city. I talked more about him here

We then see Perry asking Lois to help out with Vicki Vale who is asked to be a guest writer on the Daily Planet, we later see in the ep that she's got ulterior motives for this. I talked a bit about her here. In the comics Vicki is usually a journalist for the Gotham Gazette and is sometimes in a relationship with Bruce Wayne. Her comic counterpart is usually very ethical when it comes to journalism much like Lois Lane, but here in MAwS, she's very conniving. Never meet your heroes sometimes I guess, huh MAwS Lois?

Lois talks about the things Vicki wrote for the Gazette and name drops Queen Industries. If you know your DC universe, that is the last name of Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow.

Oliver Queen and Roy Harper aka Speedy, make their first appearance in More Fun Comics #73 (1941) co-created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp who did the panel here. Robin Hood was an obvious inspiration for Oliver in terms of design but also his ethics in a sense. Despite the wealth, Oliver would be left wing and fight for the people arguably more so than Bruce Wayne. You can see in the panel that Oliver doesn't have his signature goatee you'll see that happen later when Neal Adams pencils Ollie in the Brave and the Bold #85 (1969)

who also redesigned Ollies costume too. Check out Green Lantern/Green Arrow series to see Oliver's liberal stances on what was going on in the world in the early 1980s. Nowadays, Oliver's been redesigned to to wear a hood instead of the Robin Hood cap, but he's still the left wing hero that we adore

Fantastic cover to the 80 years of Green Arrow hardcover book by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, and Alex Sinclair.

The Falcones get a mention as one of the stories Vicki Vale wrote about. The Falcones make their first appearance in Batman #405 (1987) created by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli in the Batman Year One storyline.

The man with the pipe in the second panel, by Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Richmond Lewis, and Todd Klein, is the head of the head of the Falcones, Gotham's biggest mob family, Carmine "the Roman" Falcone. He and his family gets expanded explored in Batman: The Long Halloween. Both it and Batman Year One are fantastic reads, highly recommended.

The Gotham Gazette, and in a roundabout way, Gotham, gets a name drop from Perry White. The paper make its first appearance in Batman #4 (1940) and Vicki Vale is employed by them as the photojournalist.

Perry asks Lois and Jimmy to help Vicki out with a story about smearing Superman and they decide to interview people. First up is Captain Immonen who Clark saved in episode 3. The captain's last name is a reference to...

comic book artist, Stuart Immonen. He's worked on various Superman-related titles like Action Comics or the Adventures of Superman.

Probably the Superman book I enjoyed his work in, and highly recommend checking out for everyone who reads this is, Superman: Secret Identity (cover art here by Stuart Immonen) with writer Kurt Busiek about a teen who happens to be named Clark Kent in his world where there are no superheroes, only in the comic books, but somehow slowly develops powers on his own. Very cool non-canon story that is a fresh take on the Superman mythology.

The next interviewee I have to assume based on the credits at the end of the episode is, Mrs. Quietly who is a reference to...

comic book artist, Frank Quitely. You may know his name on the New X-Men with Grant Morrison, but in terms of Superman, he was the penciler for All-Star Superman (cover by Frank Quitely and Jamie Grant)...

the comic series that got an animated movie adaptation and will be the inspiration for the upcoming Superman: Legacy live action movie. The book has Superman dying thanks to Luthor and has Clark live out his final days saving the world and the future in a sense one last time. It's a great read! And speaking of Grant Morrison...

Grant Morrison got their reference through the name of a pawn shop in Metropolis.

Grant Morrison, fantastic writer, has worked on a lot of comics. As mentioned before Morrison worked with Frank Quitely on New X-Men but in terms of Superman, is best known for writing All-Star Superman with Quitely. Both have also worked on Batman and Robin together and equally great series if you want to see Dick Grayson as Batman try to wrangle in Damian Wayne as Robin.

We see Lex Luthor Alex here as the final interviewee who says Superman is a menace for ruining his job and destroyed the building he worked in. Will he lose his hair and go into business? I don't know, but when Alex gets a confirmed last name, most likely Luthor, I'll take more about him.

Later in the episode we seen screen names, LoriLemaris59 and Bibbo87 streaming videos of Superman getting his but handed to him by Task Force X. Both names are references to characters in the Superman comics.

Lori Lemaris first appeared in Superman #129 (1959) by Bill Finger, Wayne Boring, and Stan Kaye. She and Clark met in college where she posed as a wheelchair-using student and both took interest in each other, however when they're out on dates, Lori would cut the date short because of her mermaid nature. Clark tried to propose to her, but she turned him down because both are from two different worlds and it wouldn't work out. She also knew Clark was Superman because her people could read minds but she's totally cool with keeping it a secret for him. Jimmy, in MAwS, mentioned mermaids, but I did not want to point it out until we get a Lori Lemaris reference in and lo and behold it came true! The other name is a reference to Bibbo Bibbowski one of the supporting cast for Superman.

Bibbo Bibbowski makes his first appearance in the Adventures of Superman #428 (1987) by Marv Wolfman, Jerry Ordway, Tom Ziuko, and John Costanza. Superman arrives at the Ace O' Club's bar asking for information on Perry White's son, Jerry who was kidnapped. Bibbo, thinking Superman is just some guy in a costume punches Superman, gets his hand busted, and finds a new respect for him.

As mentioned before Task Force X is out to capture Superman as he and Mist try to save his sister and friend, but it turns out they are more than willing get revenge on Superman for their freedom. Even though in this universe they are Task Force X, a majority of the team is made up of Superman villains so in a sense you can make an argument that this is a Superman Revenge Squad. The first use of the team name is from the silver age, in Superman #94 (1961) where the squad was a group of aliens. The Superman villains teaming up together to get revenge on Superman first appeared in the Adventures of Superman #543 (1997). Parasite (Rudy Jones), who was part of that team, shares names with a Superman villain in MAwS here.

I think someone on the MAwS team is a fan of the X-Men arcade game cuz Livewire flies the same way Magneto does in that game.

Again very sorry for the delay in this, but if you made it this far down, be sure to check out my other posts about the easter eggs in My Adventures with Superman:

Episode 1 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 2 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 3 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here

Episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[luismbarbosa]

VERUSCHKA IN GIANFRANCO FINI’S “MONADE” CHAIR, BY FRANCO RUBARTELLI FOR VOGUE. 1969/09/15

“Model Veruschka sits inside of a green Plexiglass "Monade" sphere chair designed by Gianfranco Fini for Ditta Zanotta placed on a field under a blue sky. The interior is lined in white leather cushions and wired for stereo, but also includes a telephone, light, ashtrays, and a bar. Veruschka is wearing a red bikini top and a silver chain belt with Frances Denney Dew-Tan Moisturizing After Sun Lotion.”

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday one of Scotland’s best known traditional singers, Moira Anderson.

Moira Anderson was born on 5th June 1938 in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire

After leaving school, Anderson quickly established herself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the BBC.

Her initial media exposure led her to be widely regarded within her native Scotland as merely a Scottish Singer (i.e. a singer of Scots songs), and was the cause of her being grossly underrated here at home.

She landed her first job in the media, presenting the radio programme Can’t Help Singing where she sang with some prestigious names from the world of opera. She went on to make many appearances in the TV series The White Heather Club hosted by Andy Stewart.

Moira then hosted her own television show, the vastly popular Moira Anderson Sings which ran for several years. By 1970 she had signed up with the Decca Record Company, performed at the London Palladium and was hosting yet another show Stars On Sunday which ran from 1969 - 1977. Anderson has gone on to create many albums and is renowned for her charity work.

In her early career Moira made frequent appearances alongside fellow Scottish music stars, Kenneth McKellar and Andy Stewart. In the early 1980s she made a highly successful album of duets with Sir Harry Secombe.

She was one of the most sought after and highly paid stars of the world’s leading cruise liners, especially the QE2, and her London cabarets are legendary within that sphere. During these she proved herself to be a sparkling wit, a gifted mimic and impressionist as well as an accomplished pianist.

She lives in virtual retirement on the Isle of Man, and only makes infrequent and special appearances, usually for television, radio or prestigious cabarets.

[killed-by-choice]

Erlinda Rodriguez, 21 (USA 1969)

Erlinda Rodriguez was seen at an ER in May of 1969. One month ago, she had been exposed to infectious hepatitis and was now suffering from symptoms consistent with it. She had missed a period, but told her doctor that she knew she wasn’t pregnant because she had an IUD. The doctor did not perform a pelvic exam.

X-ray studies of Erlinda’s gastrointestinal organs and gallbladder were ordered. The only abnormality was “nonvisualization of the gallbladder” and a repeat of the X-ray had the same results.

In June, Erlinda was seen at an obstetric clinic because she still had not had a period. Had the ER doctor performed a pelvic exam, it would have been immediately obvious that her IUD had come out. She was pregnant.

Pelvic exposure to radiation was estimated at 10 to 12 rads. Abortion under certain circumstances had already been legalized in New Mexico, and Erlinda and her husband feared the possible effects of radiation on their baby. She was promptly approved by a committee for a “therapeutic” abortion. Had the committee said no, Erlinda could have lived.

The hospital that carried out the abortion did not have a specialized vacuum uterine aspirator (which can still be lethal even when properly equipped). They had substituted a portable vacuum laboratory pump with a suction trap. It is unknown if Erlinda knew about the equipment substitution when she agreed to the abortion.

On June 30, 1969, Erlinda was put under sedation and her cervix dilated for the “safe and legal” abortion. After the cannula was put into her cervix, the vacuum device was turned on.

Immediately, a massive amount of bloody froth began to foam out of Erlinda’s body. The machine was turned off, but it was too late. Someone had connected the suction tube to the pressure outlet. Erlinda’s uterus had been pumped full of vacuum exhaust.

The tubing was reconnected and the abortion carried out, along with the removal of blood so full of air that it was frothy. The anesthetist was told to watch for signs of an air embolism. Only 30 seconds after having pressurized vacuum exhaust pumped into her body, Erlinda’s blood pressure was undetectable. Her heart rate dropped to 50 bpm and she had to be intubated, at which point she was noticed to be blue.

A cardiovascular surgeon was brought in six minutes after the massive drop in vitals. Closed chest massage was used for one minute, but Erlinda had no pulse. Her chest was opened for cardiac intervention.

Erlinda’s heart was so massively distended from a massive air embolism that it was nearly sphere-shaped. About 11 minutes after the embolism, needles were used to create vents in her heart. Air hissed under enormous pressure from each vent site.

After intensive efforts, Erlinda’s heartbeat was brought back to a strong sinus rhythm, but the damage had been done. She never regained consciousness and spent her last weeks comatose. She had to have a breathing tube and feeding tube put in. Decorticate rigidity indicated severe brain damage. Several urinary and respiratory infections later, Erlinda died on September 17, 1969.

The autopsy revealed extensive cerebral necrosis, tracheobronchitis, pulmonary edema, bronchopneumonia and gallstones.

Erlinda’s death was preventable on many levels. First, a pelvic exam after she reported missing periods would have immediately found the dislodged IUD before the radiation exposure could ever happen. Second, the study that reported her death recommended screening for pregnancy before conducting pelvic X-rays. The exposed pressure outlet on the hospital’s substitute equipment was unacceptably risky, and greater care with preparation would have found that the tubing was connected to the outlet valve before it was turned on. All equipment also should have been tested before it was actually put into anyone’s body.

Adding to the tragedy, we now know that the chance of X-rays during pregnancy harming an unborn baby is very small. According to the CDC, there is scientific disagreement on whether or not the amount of radiation in a diagnostic X-ray is sufficient to seriously harm an unborn child (although a large number of pelvic X-rays still warrant consideration and care). Erlinda died without knowing that her child was probably fine.

(Erlinda is Patient ER)

[everythingsecondhand]

The Variable Man & Other Stories, by Philip K. Dick (Sphere, 1969).

From a charity shop in Nottingham.

[sashayed]

Night Drive

The smells of ordinariness Were new on the night drive through France; Rain and hay and woods on the air Made warm draughts in the open car.

Signposts whitened relentlessly. Montrueil, Abbéville, Beauvais Were promised, promised, came and went, Each place granting its name’s fulfilment.

A combine groaning its way late Bled seeds across its work-light. A forest fire smouldered out. One by one small cafés shut.

I thought of you continuously A thousand miles south where Italy Laid its loin to France on the darkened sphere. Your ordinariness was renewed there.

Seamus Heaney in Door into the Dark, 1969

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Brian Aldiss - An Age - Sphere - 1969

[vintage-tech]

Frustration Ball, a dexterity game from 1969.

Looking into the history of Remco’s Frustration Ball yields an excellent example of truth in advertising. The toy’s ads touted its “three-dimensional madness” and innate ability to “drive you up the wall.”

Released in 1969, the game superficially appears to be a simple dexterity puzzle. The Frustration Ball is a self-contained transparent plastic sphere that contains 8 affixed, inward-facing cups in various colours, and a marble.

Each cup is labeled with a number. Players take turns tilting the sphere in an attempt to move the marble sequentially from cups 1 to 8 without missing a step. The first player to complete the task (in a pre-determined amount of time) is declared the winner. Some of the cups are opposite of each other, making the transition fairly easy. Others, however, are placed in the rotation at 90-degree angles, forcing players to grapple with the daunting task of calibrating the proper speed and angle to successfully flip the ball from number to number.

Remco marketed the Frustration Ball as an all-ages game, even promoting it as a suitable diversion for the “cocktail crowd.” While the ball wasn’t overly delicate to handle, mixing alcohol with game play likely resulted in many repeat sales for the company.

[haveyoureadthispoll]

Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known--and feared--as the man christened Muad'Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne--and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family's dynasty...

[doctorstrangereview]

0072: Doctor Strange #177

Cover Date: February 1969 On-Sale Date: November 5, 1968

This issue we get one of the most iconic coves for the series and probably for the era. We conclude the first phase of the Sons of Satannish arc, trigger phase two and, thanks to the powers that be at Marvel, Doc gets a new look. Rumor has it that the editorial at Marvel wanted Doc to look more like a superhero. That means he's loses the baggy tunic and gains a skin tight bodysuit. Now we know Doc is as cut as some of the other heroes. His cloak's collar gets a bit of a reshaping. His cool leopard spotted orange gloves turn into blue pointy ones and his tights now end in form fitting boots. Oh, he also gets a mask. It's also blue and rather featureless.

Doc and Clea have been exiled by Asmodeus to another dimension. The first few pages of the story illustrate this journey with Doc spouting lots of flowery purple prose. Gene gives us lots of swirling color.

As they arrive at their hostile destination, the pair run into a wall. Doc blunts the impact with a hasty spell but is unsure if it protected Clea.

Oof! That had to hurt. Once he gets his senses back, he checks on the silver-haired temptress. She's okay and he gives us more purple prose.

They start to explore and it's not long before the ground itself tries to eat Clea. It then tries the same trick with Doc. Doc escapes from the trap and proceeds to look for Clea. He frets about breaking out high above the ground without his Cloak of Levitation. But Doc is a powerful wizard who can levitate without it if necessary so I'm not sure why that's a concern. The Eye of Agamotto suddenly appears and we'll soon find out how that came to be as the cloak and eye were confiscated by the Sons of Satannish last issue.

Doc finds Clea and frees her. She asks about the eye and we find out that the amulet Asmodeus confiscated is empty and he's been hiding the eye itself on their journey here.

Meanwhile Asmodeus is perusing the stolen Book of the Vishanti. While I'm sure it's pretty amazing, calling it the source of ALL occult knowledge is probably a bit of a stretch.

The Sons second-in-command, Marduk, questions Asmodeus saying "Mine" and asks if he meant "Ours?" "Of course, Marduk, of course!" Then a little surprise springs on Asmodeus as the book suddenly does a fade out. Yeah, Doc wasn't as dumb and naive as you thought. He set a trap.

Asmodeus checks out the Satan Sphere and we see the book is in the hands of an old friend.

Asmodeus the reveals his plan to the rest of his cult. He will call forth Surtur and Ymir to wreck up the place. This is the first time we learn of Vishanti magic co-mingling with Asgardian magic.

Surtur does look a bit like Heat-Miser there. I wonder if Rankin and Bass read this before they produced their "Year Without a Santa Claus" special. Next, Asmodeus and his cult perform the requested Trance of Transferal. We get a look at how slimy Asmodeus really is. Not only does he steal all their power, but he then banishes them to somewhere else. Never fear, we haven't seen the last of them and we'll find out where they went. Later.

That truly is a low blow, Asmodeus! But he's not done with the dirty tricks. He's got to go to Tibet and steal back the Book of the Vishanti. To most easily enter the old dude's pad he's disguising himself as Doc using "the very air breathed last by my vanquished foe!"

As Asmodeus heads to Tibet, we switch to Doc and Clea resting for a moment. It doesn't last as the local flora attempts to eat Doc. The plant starts to transform Doc into a likeness of itself and with his hands transformed he can't work most spells. He must resort to the Eye of Agamotto again. Oddly, the amulet has appeared at Docs neck again. Not sure how that got there. I thought it was just the Eye that came along for the ride. The Eye goes on a trip through the dimensions.

The Eye goes back to the Earth cemetery and it turns out the cloak that the cult confiscated was a fake and the real one was hidden. The Eye retrieves it and returns it to Doc and Clea.

Doc anticipated losing the first round and placed a lot of his power in the cloak. Once it returns to Doc he's able to free himself from the hungry flora. Now it's time for the pair to head back to Earth and confront The Sons of Satannish. Doc doesn't yet know it's just Asmodeus left. Doc encounters a problem. Because Asmodeus has stolen Doc's face, he can't re-enter his home dimension. But Doc is a smart guy. He has a cunning plan!

And thus we get our first view of Doc's new look. I'm not sure how a mask is able to circumvent a multi-versal law that seems to be preventing them from re-entering, but I'll just go with it for now.

Smarty-pants Doc also realizes that the spell on the Book of Vishanti has kicked and and that Asmodeus stole his image to more easily get into the Ancient One's pad. The newly clad Doc heads directly to Tibet.

Doc arrives in the nick of time to confront Asmodeus. Asmodeus jumps immediately into the fray.

Doc surmises from Asmodeus' increased power and that he's gone solo that his fellow cultists have met a miserable fate. He counters the attack.

Asmodeus thinks Doc's counter attack should have killed him and also thinks that he'll never use his full strength. Doc won't kill Asmodeus. The exchange also confirms to The Ancient One that the Doc who looks like Doc is an imposter. Despite the fact that world/universe is at stake here, The Ancient One decides to take a hands-off approach to the situation. Maybe the old duffer is a bit past it.

Doc asks Asmodeus to surrender. He has come to the decision that he will do whatever it takes to stop his evil doppelganger. Asmodeus realizes this and is about to unleash his own full strength on Doc. He doesn't get the chance. His ticker gives out.

Doc thinks it's over, but The Ancient One hints that it's not. However, before he gets into that, we have a moment that will soon be repeated over and over again on an about to debut show named Scooby-Doo. Doc unmasks the dying villain. (Note: Scooby's villains aren't usually dying in this situation.)

Jinkies Doc! It was Doc Benton all along! Benton passes to his eternal reward/punishment. The Ancient One tells Doc that he cast the spell of fire and ice. The Norse demons will soon be making an appearance! Thus begins the second and final phase of The Saga of the Sons of Satannish!

Even though I'm not a fan Doc looks that deviate too much from his classic appearance, this is definitely my favorite issue of this run. It's non-stop action. The plot drives the climax to a personal duel between Doc and Asmodeus. The method of giving Doc his new look is a bit shoehorned in and probably wouldn't have happened without interference from editorial. Roy gives Gene more opportunities to go hog wild with weirdness. We have a crazy dimension and lots of magic battles. Twice he gets to draw awesome portraits of Surtur and Ymir. And damn, if that isn't an awesome garb he gives The Ancient One. He gets a lovely high collar, a flowing cloak and robe and those wonderful pointed shoes! It's just awesome all around. Between Ditko's fashions and this The Ancient One should be taking a stroll along the catwalk. The even more dangerous phase begins next issue. And this time Doc will need help!