A Forever Question: By the Book?

“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question.”

Sir. Why do so many people not practice their faith?

CD: Lexx (Marty Simon)

Lexx

- Music from the Original Television Sci-fi Movie Series -

by

Marty Simon

Future Records 1997

Book: Dreaming Aloud (Heard)

Dreaming Aloud

- The Life and Films of James Cameron -

by

Christopher Heard

Doubleday Canada Limited 1997

A Twitter Bio Text Form

A few months back I gave some time to coming up with a suitable bio for my Twitter account....

Simon St. Laurent
@626_Productions

I'm not a Con, so there's no sense in writing: "I use common sense ; Hate liberals ; Have a life experience PhD ; Use critical thinking." (I curl in comedy.)

It is said that we are made by our environments as we are growing up. Then it came to me....

- Toronto Arts Entity -
Air Force Brat tour of duty: St. Hubert, QC; CFB Greenwood, NS; Bietigheim, Germany; Iffezheim, Germany; CFB Borden, ON.

That comes in just under the maximum word allowance as dictated by Twitter. This limitation keeps me in check; contained. Normally I wouldn't stop there, I'd keep going....

Book: Roger Corman (Gray)

Roger Corman

- An Unauthorized Biography of the Godfather of Indie Filmmaking -

by

Beverly Gray

Renaissance Books 2000

I'm Anarkyvist: John Williams - NBC Today - 1989

In early 2011 I felt it was time to start digitizing my VHS collection of over 200 tapes. To YouTube I went and signed up under the improbable and somewhat mysterious name of "Anarkyvist". The project got off to a good start, but after the initial volley, I seemed to lose interest while gaining other convenient distractions. It's time to go back to those VHS boxes and the conversion process, but for now I will take a look back here on this blog....

Yesterday I filed the first posting in the series. That 5-minute video is an NBC Today segment from 1983 on my favourite film scorer, the late Jerry Goldsmith. Today on Today, albeit from March 27th of 1989: a chat with famed Hollywood composer John Williams.

Film critic Gene Shalit interviews the congenial maestro, with a special emphasis on The Accidental Tourist, a film release from the year before. In hindsight, I wish these profile pieces were longer. Now, of course, they'd run for 65 seconds.

CD: Spaced Out! (Nimoy / Shatner)

Spaced Out!

- A Unique Collection of Songs by Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner -

MCA Records 1997

I'm Anarkyvist: NBC Today on Jerry Goldsmith 1983

In early 2011 I felt it was time to start digitizing my VHS collection of over 200 tapes. To YouTube I went and signed up under the improbable and somewhat mysterious name of "Anarkyvist". The project got off to a good start, but after the initial volley, I seemed to lose interest while gaining other convenient distractions. It's time to go back to those VHS boxes and the conversion process, but for now I will take a look back here on this blog....

I taped the above off of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in 1983. At the time they had a half-hour entertainment-news program, the name of which I've since forgotten, not unlike Entertainment Tonight. This story, on veteran Hollywood composer Jerry Goldsmith, was filed by reporter Jim Brown for NBC's Today. The CBC picked-up the segment for their own show (the NBC satellite feed, or whatever it was, was fraught with interference).

Interesting that Poltergeist, which was released the year before, is labelled as a Steven Spielberg movie. What happened to Tobe Hooper? There is an error in the story: the narration mentions that Goldsmith worked on the original Twilight Zone television series (he did), and that he incorporated its theme tune, written by "Bernard Herrmann", into his score for the 1983 Spielberg-produced TZ feature film. "Marius Constant" would be more correct.

Hollywood reporter Brown was a big Goldsmith fan, hence multiple reports over the years on the movie music man. (Soon I'll have another.)

Book: Führer-Ex (Hasselbach and Reiss)

Führer-Ex
- Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi -

by
Ingo Hasselbach
with
Tom Reiss

Random House 1996

Book: Hitler (Bullock)

Hitler

- A Study in Tyranny -

by

Alan Bullock

Harper Perennial 1971

Book: An Introduction to American Movies (Earley)

An Introduction to American Movies

- From The Great Train Robbery to Star Wars and Beyond -

by

Steven C. Earley

A Mentor Book 1978

A Forever Question: Those Grey Routes

“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question.”

Sir. As one ages, why does one's hair not change from grey to a colour/tone?

... Looking for CKVR? (Not Anymore!)

CKVR Classic Television - The Classic Schedule

Above is a card that was mailed out to interested parties (like me) outlining CKVR's "upcoming" (summer and fall of 1993) late-night line up of classic television programs: Batman, Mary Tyler Moore, The Fugitive, The Outer Limits, Mission: Impossible, Perry Mason, Star Trek, I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island, and so on, were shown into the wee hours of the night.

I've not seen that channel for many years. Now it's "CTV-2". (As in: "Crappy Television - Too.")

From OECA to TVO (From the 2020 TVO Calendar)

There is some confusion as to what TVOntario was called for the first decade of its existence. The Ontario Educational Communications Network, or OECA, was the name I knew them by for years. "TV Ontario" just sneaked up on me, without fanfare.

A good friend of mine, a huge movie fan, and, like me, an admirer of TVO's now-gone framework movie series' Saturday Night at the Movies and Magic Shadows and their host, Elwy Yost, was convinced the network always went under the name we know today. He was so convinced, I thought maybe my memory was faulty. I'm kidding. In June of 1977 I visited "OECA". (Just as importantly, in the summer of 1976: "Doctor Who is on OECA this September!")

As the picture above states: OECA "officially" adopts working name of TVOntario in 1981.

OECA is still the name for me, even if I watch a lot of programming on TVOntario.

Book: Dreamspeaker (Hubert)

Dreamspeaker

by

Cam Hubert

Avon Books 1978

Book: Rebel Without a Crew (Rodriguez)

Rebel Without a Crew

- Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player -

by

Robert Rodriguez

A Plume Book 1996

Book: The Outer Limits (Schow and Frentzen)

The Outer Limits

- The Official Companion -

by

David J. Schow

and

Jeffrey Frentzen

Ace Science Fiction Books 1986

Book: Jaunt (Davidson)

Jaunt

- An Unofficial Guide to The Tomorrow People -

by

Andy Davidson

Miwk Publishing Ltd. 2013

Book: Totally Tasteless (Marson)

Totally Tasteless

- The Life of John Nathan-Turner -

by

Richard Marson

Miwk Publishing Ltd. 2016

Book: Behind the Screen (MacGowan)

Behind the Screen

- The History and Techniques of the Motion Picture -

by

Kenneth MacGowan

Dell Publishing Co., Inc. 1965