Malcolm S. Forbes on Education

"The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one."

We're open for business!

Picturing: Filming Aliens in their Limbo Lair

Yours truly, behind the Arriflex BL III 35 mm camera, shoots a scene of aliens doing their evil thing. Hyper-Reality is the name of the uncompleted film. I co-wrote (with the talented Tim A. Cook and Michelle Berry), directed, and designed the short ― of a planned 22-minute duration.

We shot these sequences in Studio 1 at the then 23FPS Studios here in Toronto. At the time I was working as an "optical camera/printer operator" (film compositor) at Film Opticals of Canada Ltd.

My initial designs for the "Alien Lair" had a rocky wall background, as in a cave. This approach would have been yet another expense, and it forced me to rethink the idea:

Go "Full Irwin Allen"!

Redesigning the abode with a black limbo background was the cost-saving key, and one method of many that the always frugal Mr Allen impressed upon his crew during production of the (horrible) television series Lost in Space (1965 - 1968).

Abraham Lincoln on Reading

“I feel the need of reading. It is a loss to a man not to have grown up among books.”

It's a loss too common, unfortunately.

The Great Orson Welles Narrates a Movie's TV Trailer

Those thirty-second television adverts promoting an upcoming major motion picture are rarely narrated by a cinema great. But, when that particular great has a longtime connection with Robert Wise, the man who recently helmed a particular greatly anticipated major motion picture, it would make sense to reteam for its theatrical and television trailers.

Orson Welles, with his distinctive voice, really made the upcoming release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture seem like an important movie event — that major motion picture. The telly-verts started in November of 1979, rolling through to the picture's release on Friday, December 7th.

* * *

Had a feature film adaptation been made of Gilligan's Island, hiring Mr Welles to do the same for those seven stranded castaways would have been the correct and vital choice.

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale. A tale of a fateful trip. That started from this tropic port. Aboard this tiny ship. A tour boat called... Minnow. The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper... brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that day for a three-hour tour... a three-hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost... the Minnow would be lost. The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle. With Gilligan... the skipper, too. The millionaire, and his wife. The movie star. The professor and...  Mary Ann. Here on... Gilligan's Isle."

Star Trek: The Motion Picture — 46 Years Later

This morning I learned that it was forty-six years ago today that the first Star Trek movie was released. In March of 1978 I was listening to Toronto radio station CKFM when a news bit announced: "Paramount Pictures will spend fifteen million dollars on a Star Trek movie . . . It will be released in December of next year."

On Friday, December 7, 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture finally hit movie theatres after much anticipation and fanfare, and on that very day I stood in line with friends for some movie that ended up disappointing many people ― even though it went on to make a lot of money ― but became the favourite film 'in the series' for some.

Picture a dozen teenagers meeting at the big picture house to see one of the most anticipated pictures ever. Try and imagine our disappointment when the end credits rolled: not that we wanted the show to go on, but more a case of "that was it?"; or as friend Mike said after he turned to me from the seat to my left: "I thought it would be better than that."

(The next morning I shuffled to the living room, where siblings were watching the Star Trek episode "Wink of an Eye". Is this some sort of joke? An editorial on what I saw last night? You thought this episode was bad? Last night's event flick made "Wink of an Eye" look like a masterpiece?)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was, and still is, a polarizing strip of celluloid. "We get it, you hate this movie." (The dirty little secret is a lot of Trekkies do not like ST: TMP for the simple reason that there are virtually no "starship battles". Boo. Hoo. Trekkies!)

One thing's for sure, it is still the biggest budget Trek of the bunch, the only one given "A-picture" status by Paramount Pictures ― not that it means anything outside of trivia circles. However, the studio was not entirely happy with the box office results; even though the film brought in the bucks it was not highly "profitable", which is proportion of money made compared to money put in. While touted as soaking up 42 million production dollars, its real cost was about 28 million. (In its zeal to promote TMP as being epic in cash outlays, Paramount included the costs of the aborted Treks: the motion picture of a planned 1976 release, and a return to television scheduled for 1977.)

More importantly, that great cast was back, even if their magical chemistry was seemingly put on hold for 132 minutes. One hundred and thirty-two minutes.

What do I think of the picture now? Well, I watched it over the Christmas holidays last year, as it had been many years since I last saw its pictorial shimmerings... if somewhat static standings. My brother mentioned to me a couple of years ago that he had recently watched it: "It actually has some pretty solid science fiction concepts."

After my rewatch: "I agree! It's a better movie than what our own reviews indicated in nineteen seventy-nine." And that score! That element has always been great: one of cinema's greatest.

* * *

On December 7th of last year, I took a look-back at Star Trek: The Motion Picture. If you, dear reader, have been mercifully spared the Blushings of Geekdom, you might not want to bother.

The fun started here: Star Trek Motion Picture Day: AMT Klingon Cruiser 

Star Trek Motion Picture Into Box Office Orbit

The above is a little and archival newspaper clipping from the Toronto Sun regarding the week following the December 7th, 1979, opening of the very first Star Trek movie; titled, simply enough, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

I remember reading at the time — in another newspaper piece — that the film took the classic dip after its opening week but regained some of its traction with the movie-going public immediately afterward. It ended its run having made a lot of money, but not as much as Paramount had hoped for considering the substantial investment.

In December of last year I rewatched the featured film for the first time in years: I liked it.

Did I see Star Trek Into Darkness, or any of the "Next Gen" features? No. No interest whatsoever.

Humour: Forty-One To What?!....

This afternoon I was talking with someone and I mentioned an episode of TVO's public affairs program The Agenda from May of 2019. I had gotten home a little later than normal that night and popped on my appointment television program already in progress....

Host Steve Paikin had a few guests at the table. The subject seemed to be about children in sports. Paikin turned to the lady sitting to his right and said something like this:

"There was a case last October where a Cambridge hockey team made up of a bunch of eight-year-olds played a team from another town and won the game by a score of forty-one to nothing."

A look of concern passed back and forth between the woman and the host.

I thought: "What? How is that possible? Were they playing the Leafs?"

* * *

After I originally posted the above on May 8, 2019, Mr Paikin saw the piece and responded with a simple: "That's not funny!"

Leafs fans.

Hey, I'll cut him some slack. He's also a Hamilton Tiger-Cats fan.

Jim Rohn on Reading

“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.”

Don't stay ordinary, certainly not deliberately.

Story: Of Bunkers and the Rounds

I arrived in (then) West Germany in October of 1966 when the war, WW2, was just two decades in the past. Because of this handy fact there were lots of 'residual matter' left lying around from that great conflict. Bunkers were common in the area I lived ― just two kilometres from the French border and the dividing, and all-important bulkhead, Rhine River ― for they were part of the defence of Nazi Germany. Courtesy of many years of warm and cold weather back-and-forth action, expended shell casings and unfired rounds of ammunition would constantly pop to the surface ready for us little ones to collect. These weapons of war were great and much desired collectibles. ("Hockey cards? Ha!") However, as part of our education at home and at school our superiors made it clear that we were never to touch, never mind collect, those potent pieces of history.

One could still find reminding-bits of warfare in the local bunkers, of which an example sat in a field very close to where I lived in Iffezheim. I admit that I did at least once go right up to the bunker but did not try to climb around inside as it was by then a collapsed structure. (One of my most vivid memories is of something I saw while travelling on an RCAF bus in the early 1970s; out my window, as the trees parted, was a sight to behold: a field of anti-tank traps. The scene of light-grey-toned pyramids spread orderly over the green grass was almost beautiful.)

One day on the CFB Baden-Soellingen Elementary School grounds a fellow schoolmate pulled out a clear plastic bag to show off to our small gathered circle. In this conveniently-transparent bag, one which could have been used to contain a few ounces of water and a small-calibre goldfish, was a large assortment of small and medium-calibre ammunition. There was a mix of fully-intact rounds and empty shell casings. A veritable grab-bag of violence.

That's all!....

Iffezheim, Germany, and immediate surrounding area.

(CFB Baden-Soellingen was just a few kilometres south-west from here.)

Ray Bradbury on Reading

"You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

Too many people today have no interest in reading, unfortunately.

Athot for the Day: There Are Exceptions, Eh? Aye!

A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) video is already becoming tiresome, and almost fully relegated to gimmickry. Having said that, I would love to see a new "Carry On" movie starring Sidney James.

Pics: TTC Subway Train Enters Downsview Park Stn

The above sequence I captured with my smart phone's crappy camera in December of 2017, right after Downsview Park station opened as part of the Spadina Line extension... a much needed extension. Continuing north from Downsview Park are the stations: Finch West, (the much needed) York University, Pioneer Village, Highway 407, and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.

The Humming Starts! Hooray for Santa Claus!

On Tuesday I posted a piece revealing my affections for "Hooray for Santa Claus" a song written by Milton DeLugg for the 1964 kiddie flick Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

Don't ask.

And no, I'm not reproducing the lyrics here. They're easy to search online, of course. Also, I'd like to keep this piece as a simple "hum".

"Milton DeLugg and The Little Eskimos" performs the catchy little ditty.

By the way, Joseph E. Levine produced Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. He had a storied career as a film producer and executive producer. When I was a preteen and big teen, hearing "Joseph E. Levine Presents" and/or "A Joseph E. Levine Production" told me and other members of the moviegoing public: "This must be an important movie."

("A Bridge Too Far!")

Watch Santa Claus Conquers the Martians if you have time to spare.

Enjoy!

Postscript: I've long found it odd that a major motion picture's title would give away the plot's punchline. There's always a chance that The Martians would conquer, or at least succeed in repelling, Santa Claus... right?

Post Postscript: Okay, I have a few things to do today. Thoughts of Sugar Plum Fairies and a man "fat and round", jumpin' jiminy!, will have to be put on hold....

Violinist Serenades TTC Travellers at Spadina Station

The above photograph was snapped by me one year ago today. I haven't seen this gent since, which is a shame, as his playing was dynamically terrific. Vivaldi?

Athot for the Day: 'Tis the Season's Song

I'll know I'm ready for the season when I start humming Milton DeLugg's fabulous Christmas pop standard, "Hooray for Santa Claus". I just love that trombone part.

Athot for the Day: In the Know

Cats know shit.

(You, dear reader, especially those of you who are cat lovers, know exactly what I mean.)

Experimental Filmmaker John Whitney Jr on Today

"(In the not too distant future) It will be possible to create the likeness of a human being, to generate speech electronically, and the result will evoke an emotional response. We may be able to recreate stars of the past, cast them in new roles, bring them forward into new setting if stills and old films can be used to make the likeness, the database."

We know all too well.

Newspaper Clipping: Go Leafs Go 1970

Earlier this week I was doing some online research when I stumbled upon something that I wasn't looking for, but something that might be of interest to NHL (National Hockey League) fans, especially Toronto Maple Leafs fans, including those who may not want that shot of history.

Courtesy of Toronto (Daily) Star articles accessed through the wonderful Toronto Public Library website, below is a snipping/clipping from November 21, 1970. It contains much valuable statistical and trending data for those Leafs fans who don't quite have a handle on their babe's history. Even a quick observation will note something not so cryptic, but realistic....

... and blowed up real good....

Toronto was at the very bottom of the NHL's then Eastern Division, and held that standing, holding, nurturing, caressing, just 8 points after 17 games played. (My then beloved Habs were at the top of the division with 23 points. As some readers here might know, the Montreal Canadiens would go on to win the Stanley Cup that season.)

Yes, my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. (Those folk who know me will know.)

In my best William Dozier voice....

"Oh, my. It doesn't look good for our special team!

Are they really... on ice?

Are all their plans and dreams to get... frozen?

For the answer to these and other ice-cold questions, stay tuned!

Same Leafs-time! Same Leafs-channel!"

***

Postscript: Gone are the days when I'd spend uncounted hours at the Toronto Public Library system's magnificent Reference Library cranking through hundreds of linear feet of microfilm in the name of research, hanging over the viewing machine in nausea. To the passerby on the ground floor's west-facing wall, I must have bore a resemblance to Sylvester the Cat when he stood slumping, with arms thrown over a ship's upper deck railing, looking mighty green. Through the large library windows I could see that Yonge Street tea shop. After reaching my breaking point, I would stop, cross the street, and take in a cup of tea. The world had stopped moving. My stomach, and sweat glands, took a break. (Go Leafs!)

It's Grimm, Folks ― Really Grimm

Yes, I love the Brothers Grimm. They feed something in me... if you'll pardon the expression. The collective, and collected, writings of brothers Jacob Ludwig Karl und Wilhelm Carl have long intoxicated my unique "dark" perspective on life. (I jest, for I'm hardly alone in that regard.) My excuse may come from the fact that I did live for a few years in Germany's luscious der Schwarzwald. From those rich green forests sprouted some dark tales. And seeds for me.

In October of 2020, U.S. President Donald J. Trump experienced a Covid health scare. He recovered and went on to lose the 2020 election and win the 2024 election. Some folk pegged the 2020 election loss as an attempt to garner sympathy from the voting public.

After the brush with Covid, and knowing Trump was okay, I was inspired to have a little fun.

If this was a Brothers Grimm story, how might it end? Most of us would not wish something like this on Mr Trump, but, given his mean nature toward his fellow man and woman, one can have fun with a fanciful tale....

"King Trump, while dining late one night on food fit for kings, felt a great disturbance in his belly and breast, a rumbling of which he recalled from days and nights before. He sweated all over, and he gasped for life. His minions rushed him to the town's physicians, who, with armour and tools, battled for him through the night, only to lose the king of kings in the darkness.

His faithful villagers did not fret for long at the sight of their immobile once-proud King. They ate him all up."

Postscript: I understand this tale is even darker in the original German.

(No, I did not write the above in German, then translate it to English. My written German is about as good as a Toronto Maple Leafs powerplay.)

Did my parents read stories from the Brothers Grimm to me when I was a child? No! They did not! And I had to make up for lost time.

Time?

It's time I enjoy a more satirical form of Germanic folktales and read Johann Karl August Musäus' Volksmärchen der Deutschen....

Sunday Fun: Abandoned Close Encounters Book

While discussing abandoned books with a friend in July of 2018, I presented a very small list, but a certain title was perhaps a surprise: the Close Encounters of the Third Kind tie-in novelization.

I started digging in in late 1979, and in November of that year I packed it in.

The real part of this story is the fact that for almost thirty-nine years the bookmark was exactly where I left it: Chapter 10.

The book was unremarkable, like most of that kind, and added nothing to what to me was an unremarkable movie ― with the exception a few impressive show pieces.

The bookmark: "Half Back - The Ontario Rebate Program that turns old Wintario tickets into discounts", valid from May 1 - September 30, 1979.

Postscript: Steven Spielberg did not write the novel, no surprise. Though the director long claimed that he was its scribe, in fact it had been ghost-written by Leslie Waller.