Sir. We've heard of "hot wheels", but are there such things as "square wheels"?
Monday, May 24, 2021
A Forever Question: Different Strokes
“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."
Sunday, May 23, 2021
No, This Is Not An Optical Illusion - Football for Today
A few days ago, when I checked the Premier League football action schedule for today, Sunday, May the 23rd, I assumed there was a technical error: All matches were listed as starting at 11am (ET). Last evening I went back and, there again, "11am". A little research revealed that all games for today were scheduled this way so as not to "influence teams' style of play". Makes sense; it's crunch time, after all.
Oh... I'm watching the Leicester City / Tottenham match. It's tied at half time....
Saturday, May 22, 2021
Richard Van de Water on the Physics of Humans
"Every time science advances, it shows that there is nothing special about humans. We are probably some of the dumbest creatures in the universe!"
Unfortunately for us.
Sigmund Freud on the Reality of Reality
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
So true, especially during the current 'climate'.
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UFO Flicks) Repeat
"Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." Perfect. UAP sounds an awful lot like an old film production and distribution company, but maybe that's the joke. Recently, and officially, released video footage captured by U.S. Navy fighter jets seems to bear out the notion that these objects are something right out of a 1950s UFO flick.
The U.S. Department of Defense feels the clips do not reveal anything that might compromise national security. I'm guessing the chiefs and staff couldn't detect any ray-gun turrets protruding from the speeding objects, or anything that might compromise the integrity of the human race.
Do I believe that aliens from another world are visiting us? Not really.
A friend told me he thinks we're alone in the universe, and he was quite passionate about it.
My reaction was typical. "In this entire universe, we're the only advanced beings?" Knowing that he is a fan of space shows, I thought I would add a brain buster: "And there aren't humanoids out there that speak a passable English?"
He smiled at that one. Then he shook his head gently to reaffirm his earlier point.
I'm of the mindset that possibility breeds probability. We just don't know about each other. These otherworldly intelligent beings too are restrained by simple physics.
We'll have to depend on stellar flicks like Starship Invasions (1977) to keep us believing....
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Monday, May 17, 2021
A Forever Question: ... And You Have Reality
“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."
Sir. Where are the Talosians when you need them?
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
A Nightmare on Elm Street (From a Dependent Brat) - Repeat
The Astral Theatre in CFB Borden, Ontario, was a veritable movie funhouse of eclectic and varied flicks, old and new. In essence it was a rep cinema. Most new and big releases, and anything of prestige, were on the other side of the base at the mighty Terra Theatre.
One of many films I saw in or about my thirteen year had a very special trailer. A preview which ended up haunting me: Triple Avalanche of Terror
The hook was a certain sustained shot that was more important to me, ultimately, than the variety of quickly cut clips that followed. This affecting scene -- shot in a mental institution, apparently -- was the real keeper. While substantial image grain danced before our eyes, an ominous voice-over explained that 'this man watched Triple Avalanche of Terror and went insane'. (Really? Seriously.)
A straight-jacketed wretch squirmed as two attendants hovered over, comforting him as he did the bit of business taught in acting school when one wants to evoke "crazy". "No!...No!!..."
As advertised, in order to watch the film one had to accept an insurance policy before entering the theatre. Cool. It's not something I'd want to have to cash in, but cool.
I bought it, the preview, that is, so much so that I knew I had to see the film, even though it was to be a midnight presentation. Oh, no.
As we left the theatre after watching the now forgotten feature presentation, my friends and I discussed the trailer, that spooky trailer. One friend, Glen Scott, seemed to know that we'd been had:
"It's a publicity stunt!
"It's a publicity stunt!", he reiterated as the rest of us, in his eyes, were overly concerned that we too would go insane.
But, we all agreed: Must see movie.
This is where trouble followed.
The next day I raved enthusiastically to my mother about the nerve-splitting trailer I had seen, and in the process I let it out that the anticipated movie itself was to be shown as a late-late show. She wasted no time in saying "no". When the day got closer, I asked again:
MUM
No.
ME
Mum, I wanna see Triple Avalanche of Terror!
MUM
I told you, you're not seeing it.
ME
Why not?!
MUM
Because...I don't want you prancing about at all hours of the night.
Now that's final.
("I guess I'm not going to be seeing Triple Avalanche of Terror.")
I wish I had possessed the verbal wit of Family Guy's "Stewie": "How dare you deprive me of some devilishly gruesome entertainment. I shall be forever stunted by your absolute malicious disregard for my personal development!"
I didn't get my mother's reasoning. Geographically speaking, the Astral was not far from Elm Street, our street. The route consisted of a quick walk to School Street, then along Maple Drive; up a little further was the palace of dreams.
How was the Terrible Avalanche, you ask? The next day I asked Glen what he thought. After all, he and the gang were allowed to walk about at all hours of the previous night.
"It wasn't very good."
Of course, to a pre-teen, that was code for: "It was awesome!" Either that, or I was becoming concerned for Glen's sanity.
"Carry On Camping is on this Saturday?" I was allowed to see that one, however. Not a lot makes sense when you're a kid. (Those of you who have seen that British comedy classic, or just about any Carry On movie, for that matter, will know what I'm getting at.) Now I know why Camping was acceptable fare: It was shown during regular business hours. The prevailing issue wasn't so much one of content.
The Astral, along with all the PMQs (houses) on Elm, School, Hemlock, and Maple Drive, is now gone as that part of CFB Borden was razed a few years ago, but my memories of that special dream-maker always remain strong -- even if a certain title is missing.
One of many films I saw in or about my thirteen year had a very special trailer. A preview which ended up haunting me: Triple Avalanche of Terror
The hook was a certain sustained shot that was more important to me, ultimately, than the variety of quickly cut clips that followed. This affecting scene -- shot in a mental institution, apparently -- was the real keeper. While substantial image grain danced before our eyes, an ominous voice-over explained that 'this man watched Triple Avalanche of Terror and went insane'. (Really? Seriously.)
A straight-jacketed wretch squirmed as two attendants hovered over, comforting him as he did the bit of business taught in acting school when one wants to evoke "crazy". "No!...No!!..."
As advertised, in order to watch the film one had to accept an insurance policy before entering the theatre. Cool. It's not something I'd want to have to cash in, but cool.
I bought it, the preview, that is, so much so that I knew I had to see the film, even though it was to be a midnight presentation. Oh, no.
As we left the theatre after watching the now forgotten feature presentation, my friends and I discussed the trailer, that spooky trailer. One friend, Glen Scott, seemed to know that we'd been had:
"It's a publicity stunt!
"It's a publicity stunt!", he reiterated as the rest of us, in his eyes, were overly concerned that we too would go insane.
But, we all agreed: Must see movie.
This is where trouble followed.
The next day I raved enthusiastically to my mother about the nerve-splitting trailer I had seen, and in the process I let it out that the anticipated movie itself was to be shown as a late-late show. She wasted no time in saying "no". When the day got closer, I asked again:
MUM
No.
ME
Mum, I wanna see Triple Avalanche of Terror!
MUM
I told you, you're not seeing it.
ME
Why not?!
MUM
Because...I don't want you prancing about at all hours of the night.
Now that's final.
("I guess I'm not going to be seeing Triple Avalanche of Terror.")
I wish I had possessed the verbal wit of Family Guy's "Stewie": "How dare you deprive me of some devilishly gruesome entertainment. I shall be forever stunted by your absolute malicious disregard for my personal development!"
I didn't get my mother's reasoning. Geographically speaking, the Astral was not far from Elm Street, our street. The route consisted of a quick walk to School Street, then along Maple Drive; up a little further was the palace of dreams.
How was the Terrible Avalanche, you ask? The next day I asked Glen what he thought. After all, he and the gang were allowed to walk about at all hours of the previous night.
"It wasn't very good."
Of course, to a pre-teen, that was code for: "It was awesome!" Either that, or I was becoming concerned for Glen's sanity.
"Carry On Camping is on this Saturday?" I was allowed to see that one, however. Not a lot makes sense when you're a kid. (Those of you who have seen that British comedy classic, or just about any Carry On movie, for that matter, will know what I'm getting at.) Now I know why Camping was acceptable fare: It was shown during regular business hours. The prevailing issue wasn't so much one of content.
The Astral, along with all the PMQs (houses) on Elm, School, Hemlock, and Maple Drive, is now gone as that part of CFB Borden was razed a few years ago, but my memories of that special dream-maker always remain strong -- even if a certain title is missing.
Monday, May 10, 2021
A Forever Question: Tails from the Computer Desk
“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."
Sir. Many computers have a mouse, but do they ever have a cat?
Sunday, May 9, 2021
In Production: Goose Step (A Bit Short)
"Joseph E. Levine presents, a Simon St. Laurent film:
Goose Step.
Coming this summer to a theatre near you."
The 1970s was great.
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
NASA Vid: Launching The First American into Space
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) uploaded this new video today, a celebration of astronaut Alan B. Shepard's spaceflight -- America's first.
Mercury-Redstone 3 "Freedom 7" launched 60 years ago today and its success was celebrated the world over, partly because the mission was broadcast/televised live, and not done in secrecy (Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1 flight a few weeks earlier).
Shepard, the Good (Repeat)
"It was really exciting!"
When I was a little one of five or six years of age my mother told me the story of an important event from just a few years earlier. It was the United States of America's first manned spaceflight, and the astronaut's name was Alan Shepard. Everyone had gathered around the television to witness an important part of human history.
This was the first time they were able to see a manned rocket launch. The Soviets had not broadcast to the world, or even its own citizens, the lift-off of Vostok 1 three weeks earlier, and only after Yuri Gagarin returned safely to Earth from his orbital flight did they announce this stellar and humanity-changing feat. The name of the hero cosmonaut then travelled around the globe.
Citizens of the Earth could not be made to feel as participants in a great adventure until the National Aeronautics and Space Administration got to show its stuff.
Mercury-Redstone 3 ("Freedom 7") was to be a suborbital mission: Shepard's spacecraft would follow a planned ballistic trajectory. A big arc. The Mercury capsule would be shot into space, then float at high speed for some time before Earth's gravity initiated its re-entry.
One interesting element of the mission was that, unlike Gagarin's trip, which was fully automated, Shepard would take some control of his spacecraft. While up there, free from our planet's atmosphere, he manually operated the attitude control system in order to test Freedom 7's pitch, roll, and yaw capabilities.
The fifteen minute voyage was a great technical success: The capsule went 101 miles up and flew 263 miles "downrange". The splashdown took place in the Atlantic Ocean. Shepard and Freedom 7 were recovered by waiting U.S. Navy vessels. (John Glenn's orbital flight would not happen for ten more months.)
Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr was chosen to pilot MR-3 some months earlier by Project Mercury head Robert Gilruth. Competition was fierce amongst the program's seven astronauts. Not only were these men skilled test pilots -- as were all U.S. astronauts in the earliest days of space flight -- but they were equipped with the latest in personality types: Gus Grissom, for instance, who would become the second American in space, did not say much minute-to-minute during training, but when he made it known he was about to whisper something to his fellow astronauts they would shut up, lean forward, and wait for the expected words of profundity.
Shepard, on the other hand, was more gregarious by nature. He not only spoke a more regular beat, when he had something important to relate you'd better be listening, and if you didn't take your work seriously or were at any time sloppy in your training, at least from his perspective, you got it: He delivered what his peers referred to as "The Shepard Glare".
They were of a special breed: Shepard, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Deke Slayton (who was grounded for medical reasons).
I know way too much about this whole subject. Before I go on any further I'm going to execute a deorbit burn. (See?)
But first:
On May 5th, 1961, [sixty] years ago today, NASA's star astronaut, Alan B. Shepard, became a trailblazer. The world watched as his Redstone rocket sat on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral:
"... light this candle!"
When I was a little one of five or six years of age my mother told me the story of an important event from just a few years earlier. It was the United States of America's first manned spaceflight, and the astronaut's name was Alan Shepard. Everyone had gathered around the television to witness an important part of human history.
This was the first time they were able to see a manned rocket launch. The Soviets had not broadcast to the world, or even its own citizens, the lift-off of Vostok 1 three weeks earlier, and only after Yuri Gagarin returned safely to Earth from his orbital flight did they announce this stellar and humanity-changing feat. The name of the hero cosmonaut then travelled around the globe.
Citizens of the Earth could not be made to feel as participants in a great adventure until the National Aeronautics and Space Administration got to show its stuff.
Mercury-Redstone 3 ("Freedom 7") was to be a suborbital mission: Shepard's spacecraft would follow a planned ballistic trajectory. A big arc. The Mercury capsule would be shot into space, then float at high speed for some time before Earth's gravity initiated its re-entry.
One interesting element of the mission was that, unlike Gagarin's trip, which was fully automated, Shepard would take some control of his spacecraft. While up there, free from our planet's atmosphere, he manually operated the attitude control system in order to test Freedom 7's pitch, roll, and yaw capabilities.
The fifteen minute voyage was a great technical success: The capsule went 101 miles up and flew 263 miles "downrange". The splashdown took place in the Atlantic Ocean. Shepard and Freedom 7 were recovered by waiting U.S. Navy vessels. (John Glenn's orbital flight would not happen for ten more months.)
Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr was chosen to pilot MR-3 some months earlier by Project Mercury head Robert Gilruth. Competition was fierce amongst the program's seven astronauts. Not only were these men skilled test pilots -- as were all U.S. astronauts in the earliest days of space flight -- but they were equipped with the latest in personality types: Gus Grissom, for instance, who would become the second American in space, did not say much minute-to-minute during training, but when he made it known he was about to whisper something to his fellow astronauts they would shut up, lean forward, and wait for the expected words of profundity.
Shepard, on the other hand, was more gregarious by nature. He not only spoke a more regular beat, when he had something important to relate you'd better be listening, and if you didn't take your work seriously or were at any time sloppy in your training, at least from his perspective, you got it: He delivered what his peers referred to as "The Shepard Glare".
They were of a special breed: Shepard, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Deke Slayton (who was grounded for medical reasons).
I know way too much about this whole subject. Before I go on any further I'm going to execute a deorbit burn. (See?)
But first:
On May 5th, 1961, [sixty] years ago today, NASA's star astronaut, Alan B. Shepard, became a trailblazer. The world watched as his Redstone rocket sat on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral:
"... light this candle!"
Monday, May 3, 2021
A Forever Question: And In the End....
“Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have awaited a question."
Sir. Why do so many young people today not care for Beatles songs?
"Here comes the sun...."
Sunday, May 2, 2021
CD: The Planets (Holst)
The Planets
by
Gustav Holst
Herbert von Karajan
conducting the
Wiener Philharmoniker
London Records
1987 (this issue)
Saturday, May 1, 2021
St. Laurent Cine on Vimeo
Yesterday I posted a brief bit noting that I uploaded two videos to my YouTube channel. A few days ago I decided to check out Vimeo since I had heard good things about that platform. Its look, outboard and inboard, is clean and crisp -- less cluttered than the better-known YouTube.
The shorts:
My Contractual Obligation Film (00:46)
April Snow Flash! (01:38)
The channel:
St. Laurent Cine
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