Spring Break On Hoth

Last week we had a late winter snow storm that dumped somewhere between six and eight inches over the course of 24 hours.

The precipitation was a combination of rain, sleet and snow resulting in some very heavy stuff that was a bear to shovel.

The snow has now started to melt leaving behind some very interesting ice formations.

Upon close examination the banks of jagged ice and snow look like alien landscapes, sort of how I would imagine Spring Break on the planet Hoth.

File this one under “Too much time on my hands.”

Coming May 2011

Currently working on a new collection of creepy goodness for my Etsy store, something to delight your dark side and spark your imagination.

The new collection is scheduled to debut May 2011, until then I shall keep the new items under wraps … unless they decide to claw their way to the surface and escape.

That would be bad.

For The Love Of Giger

My previous post touched on my fondness for the science fiction/horror genre, I love science fiction and I love horror so when you combine the two you are going to get something great right?

Sort of like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

On this blog I’ve rambled about some of my favorite films and favorite books which leads me to another genre, the film companion book.

I love these things whether they are movie novels or “making of” books.

Big or small I have gotten quite a collection over the years starting with the movie ALIEN.

A few weeks after seeing ALIEN in the theater I bought what would be the first of many film related books.

Here are “The Book of ALIEN” and the “ALIEN Movie Novel” both from 1979 and both are well worn from hours of staring at each still and production photo.

Back in 1979 there was no instant gratification in terms of films, I mean once you saw the film that was it, you couldn’t search the internet, pop in a DVD or browse Netflix.

These books were the only way to revisit the movie short of seeing it again in the theater and a movie such as ALIEN is always a good place to visit.

Saturn 3

How I love the internet.

One minute I’m reading on article on EW.com and the next minute I’m reminded of a film from 1980 that made me shiver with a feeling of nostalgia.

The shiver came in the form of a trailer for Saturn 3, a sci-fi/horror film starring Kirk Douglass, Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel.

Saturn 3 was a film that came out after ALIEN and promised a good mashing of horror and science fiction.

The ads looked promising but for whatever reason I never managed to see this film.

I still have yet to see it and after doing a little searching it seems to be unavailable on DVD.

The year prior to its release I saw ALIEN, the first R rated film I ever saw in a theater and was hooked on the horror sci-fi genre.

Really hooked, because every year that followed there were one or two films that captured my interest such as Galaxy of Terror, Outland, The Thing, Dreamscape, Lifeforce and on and on.

Back to the present, watching this youtube clip was enough to fire up the memories and make me find a copy of this film.

Sadly it looks like I’m limited to picking up a used VHS copy but I guess that’s ok because it’s sort of fitting to watch an old film using old technology.

March? Really?

The Thing + Stop Motion?

Just watched The Thing again on Netflix, well actually watched it a couple of times and fell in love again with this movie.

You all know the details so there is no reason to go into specifics, but I did find this clip on Youtube which shows several seconds of stop motion animation revealing the full creature.

Stop motion…ah, mild orgasm, give me a minute.

Ok, I love this film and love the deleted footage.

Here’s hoping the prequel scheduled for release sometime in 2011 will not suck.

“I dunno what the hell’s in there, but it’s weird and pissed off, whatever it is.”

I’ll be pissed off if they muck this one up!

Perigee

The moon as it appeared from our back yard vantage point.

Awestruck

I love the nostalgic feel I get when I watch these two minutes and 22 seconds.

Super 8 is collaboration between J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg and looks like a nod to Spielberg’s earlier films which explains why I find this trailer so appealing.

What’s so appealing?

The appeal is that when watching the preview for Super 8 I feel the same exact excitement and magic I felt years ago when first viewing films such as Close Encounters, E.T., Poltergeist and Star Wars.

Magic may be a strong word but it is correct when describing my emotions for these films because back then magic meant more than entertainment, it meant hope.

Hope that the movies have the power to transport me to magical place where I can forget about everyday troubles and see the world through the eyes of a child.

That's a tall order.

Super 8 opens June 10^th, 2011.

Halloween PEZ

Some more of the goodies from my C.R.A.P. file blogs, but I’ve grown tired of calling it crap so I will just title these posts for what they are…and in this case it’s PEZ!

Every Halloween you can usually find some Halloween themed PEZ dispensers available in your local stores.

I’m no PEZ expert so I don’t have a clue how many different Halloween PEZ dispensers have been produced but I did find some fun PEZ facts.

Ready?

Each piece of PEZ candy is 15mm long, 8 mm wide and 5 mm high.

The name PEZ was derived from the letters at the start, middle and end of the German word for peppermint, Pfeffeminz.

The logo is drawn to give the appearance that the letters are built out of 44 brick-like PEZ confectionaries.

Three billion PEZ candies are consumed each year in the U.S. alone.

PEZ was invented in 1927.

Ok, lesson done.

Visit the official PEZ website by clicking here.

Yo Ho Ho...

More from the C.R.A.P. files, the only different is that these weren’t packed away in bins but are actually displayed on a shelf in our hallway along with some Disney Haunted Mansion artwork.

These six pirates are from Summit Collection and are extraordinary in detail and coloring.

Years ago I found the same collection of pirates available in a dollar store.

The dollar store versions were obviously cast from the same molds but the paint job was absolutely horrible which just goes to show that you really do get what you pay for.

Summit website can be found here.

C.R.A.P. Files 007

More goodies from the orange bin, the theme this time is things on four wheels.

There is nothing cooler than Matchbox cars, that is until you add some legendary movie villains.

Freddy and Jason are part of Matchbox Collectibles Character Car Collection-The Monster Series.

Freddy is standing on top of a Chevy Van while Jason perched on a Jeep Cherokee.

A couple other four wheeled gems are some Little Big Head Shredders.

The Wolfman, Invisible Man, Mummy and Dracula all doing their best Tony Hawk imitation.

The entire collection also includes Frankenstein and The Creature From The Black Lagoon, I’m pretty sure I have these guys also, I’m assuming they are packed away in the garage with all the other C.R.A.P.