Until next year
The Diogenes Club
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Washington State University News Tip Sheet, March 12, 1991
Interesting they say I edited City Limits Gazette out of Lacey, Washington. Probably due to the fact I was working there at the time. In March 1991 I was right where I am today, the mega-opolis of McCleary, Washington.
Phone photo 663
Dismantling the Bear FestivalThe tables where bear stew had been consumed are now empty
The carnival rides are being packed up
Turtle-Face Bob and His Dancing Testicles / by Ricardo Nancy McJacksonstein, Totally Multicultural Person
A mini-novel by McJacksonstein I had to print in two volumes. I published this as one of the print-on-demand titles in my catalog from 1994-1996. Readers of City Limits Gazette will remember Ricardo as one of our more lively and unusual contributors.
McJacksonstein, who was in reality a community college psychology professor obviously using another name, apparently spent his early years in New Mexico, which might account for the story being set in the Land of Enchantment. I have not run into McJ for several years, but I imagine he must be retired by this time.
Traveling Companion / by Clark Allen Dissmeyer
A 1992 story by Clark Dissmeyer I published during my print-on-demand era, 1994-1996.
Vote Mad Hatters Tea Party International
Our U.S.-Canadian political party was gearing early for the 1976 elections. This ad was published in the April 15, 1973 issue of the Daily Olympian. The only person who responded was a college professor with a serious drinking problem. We didn't exactly set the world on fire.
Selected Quotes From Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space
with an introduction by Michel Jolivet. I have no idea what sort of print run this had, but it couldn't have been very many copies. This was hammered out on my old typewriter in May 1988.
I later reviewed Plan 9 From Outer Space as part of my Cheaper by the Dozen film reviews for OlyBlog. Here's what I said:
Plan 9 From Outer Space / directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1959, VHS). Bela Lugosi, Vampira, Tor Johnson, Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore, Tom Keene, Carl Anthony, Paul Marco, Dudley Manlove, Joanna Lee, John "Bunny" Breckinridge, Lyle Talbot, Criswell, Conrad Brooks, Tom Mason. "Can you prove that it didn't happen?" Don't you hate it when you enjoy what you think is a nice little secret and then everyone finds out about it and it gets to be a big deal? That's what I experienced with Ed Wood movies in general and this one in particular. There is a natural evolution for Woodians. First, you laugh at his movies, then you slowly start to realize the guy really was a true visionary. A conceptualist. A genius. His work was totally unique, there was no other director like him. But as you reach these last stages of Wood enlightenment, the rest of the world is just starting to discover him-- and they laugh. And if you try to explain the gifted side of Wood and his masterpiece, Plan 9, no one will take you seriously. Wood first came to my attention in the early 80s when this movie was touted inaccurately as "Worst Film of All Time" in the book "The Golden Turkey Awards." Then I fell in with a wild crowd of bassoon players, which included a veterinarian in Burien who showed cassettes on Beta and a librarian who had a lawnmower that was previously owned by Mason Williams, and we watched Ed Wood movies with morbid fascination until all hours. Those were the days, before Tim Burton mainstreamed Ed. Plan 9 was Wood's attempt to lift the veil on the government's secrecy concerning UFO activity. Through the aliens, the brutal every-man-for-himself and ignorant nature of our modern American society is revealed. What makes this movie so interesting is that Wood built the whole thing around a few minutes of footage of Lugosi, right before Bela's death in 1956. In the course of telling the story Wood asks the audience to suspend expectations of several natural consistencies, like day and night going back and forth in the course of a few minutes, different actors playing the same character, scars that move around, etc. The cast is wonderful. Wood must've been a very gifted director to bring out such unique and spirited performances from his actors. They might not be polished, but they have spark. Since Wood didn't really believe in more than one take, you are watching some pretty spontaneous and improvisational moments on the screen. Plan 9, watch it once and laugh, watch it twice and think.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)