Museum notes - European Village

This past Monday I went to the Milwaukee Public Museum yet again. Today we're going to talk briefly about the European Village.

The European Village is located on the first floor of the Museum. The exhibit is attached to the Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit by a common hallway. While details in the exhibits have been updated over the years, the exhibits themselves have remained intact since my first visits to the Museum. The Third Planet (prehistoric area with the dinosaurs) and the Rain Forest exhibits that are across the hall came later and replaced existing exhibits. For that matter, the first floor used to hold the entryway to the Museum up until the remodel in the mid-90's. That's conversation for other days.

The European Village strives to show what the living quarters for immigrants from various European countries looked like, presumably as they arrived in Milwaukee in the 1800s-early 1900s. I've not seen a dating for the exhibit whereas the Streets of Old Milwaukee is set at the beginning of the 1900s, right at the turn of the century (the audiotour dates it as 1903, which would make sense but, since the audiotour is from 2003 and therefore offers a easy hundred years reflection, I'm not sure that was the original intent). Each room in the European Village shows decorations, foods, dress, etc from the culture in question. Each room is identified in the windows you peek through. Yes, the exhibit makes you a bit of a Peeping Tom.

The last couple times I've been, I've discussed a possible game to play in the Village: Find the Creepy Jesi (as I believe Jesi to be the plural of Jesus). Nearly all of the rooms have some sort of representation of Jesus on display and none of them look, well, comforting. They're either sad or in pain or dying. Apparently focusing on all the suffering Jesus did was popular at the time as opposed to considering the guidance he offered. While there are some creepy Jesi elsewhere in the Museum, they mostly hang out in the Village.

What we've yet to do is figure out the rules to this game, to determine if just any religious looking art in the Village counts or if there are specific details to look for in a Creepy Jesus. Then we'd have to document each one and count them so that others can play as well and that seems almost like work.

Hey! Who said 'Like you've got anything better to do?' Why I oughta...

Grumble

It's been a weird week for me. I've been getting some progress on projects but it feels like I've gotten nothing done. I've considered a new relatively short-term goal, but am still debating the value of it. Perhaps worst yet, the possible reason why I feel nothing's been done, I've got a touch of writer's block. It's annoying.

Gotta break outta this rut. Maybe just write the scene that might be in my head even though it means starting something else. Too many open projects usually means no visible progress on any of them. No visible progress tends to mean nothing near completion. Starting things is easier than finishing them.

Grumble.

I don't think I ever released this. Enjoy!

The automatic doors suctioned closed again, but not before allowing a cloud of freezing air into the emergency room and causing Rachel to shiver briefly. She hurried herself along to warm up again. It had been desperately cold the last few weeks, even for December, leading to a rush of frostbite cases, colds, flu, and other weather related issues. She was on her way to another frostbite case now: another residence-challenged person who was having difficulty feeling their extremities. Third one she’d seen today. The weather was deadly.

She heard the doors whoosh open behind her, a babble of excited voices accompanying the blast of frigid air. She glanced behind her and saw the gurney coming in time to flatten herself against the wall so that she wouldn’t be run down by it. A young blonde woman lie motionless on the gurney as the EMTs shoved the transport device towards the trauma room. Doctors and nurses scurried along with them, the EMTs passing along the woman’s status as they moved. Her legs had been pinned (under or against what?) and her left arm looked like it was bleeding. She was pale and quiet at the moment. Rachel watched as the gurney was pushed into the room and the medical personnel began work on her. Rachel shivered again, but not due to the cold. The young woman couldn’t be much older than she was, if she was older at all. It was a creepy thought.

Her friend Peter bounded up to her. He was handsome, his face and body were both thin, and he had large, warm, comforting brown eyes. “What happened to her?” Rachel asked after exchanging hellos.

Peter glanced in the direction of the trauma room briefly. “I’m not completely sure,” he responded, “I didn’t get the call in, I only heard about it now. From what I heard, a building collapsed on Third and Millcreek. She and her friend were in it at the time.”

“Friend?” Rachel echoed.

Peter grinned. “Didn’t I mention? You’ve got something else to do right now instead of unfreezing the homeless.” Politely he removed the chart from her grasp. “I get that joy.”

“Doctor Williams still mad at you?”

“How did you guess? Her buddy should be here any second. From the sound of it he’s not badly hurt. Gotta go.” He strode off.

“I tell you I can walk perfectly well,” growled an accented voice behind her. Turning she saw a young man being pushed in a wheelchair by an EMT.

Despite the EMT’s general air of politeness, Rachel could tell he was getting impatient with his charge. “Sir, your ankle was trapped when we found you. It’s just safer if you don’t walk yet.”

The odd young man in the chair stopped arguing and shook his head gently. “There’s no trust in this world anymore,” he muttered to no one in particular.

The EMT nodded Rachel’s way. “They said you’d be taking care of him.” Rachel nodded. The EMT smiled widely. “Then he’s all yours.” He left while he had the chance.

She steered him towards an open exam room and tried to remain cheery. “Just a slight ankle wound sir? Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“It’s not a problem,” he noted crankily, his British sounding accent adding to his projected mood. “Where is Julie?”

“Who’s Julie?”

“My friend, they took her before me.”

“She’s in one of the trauma rooms being worked on.”

“Then I should be there.” He moved to get up.

Rachel stopped him. “If you burst in there and get loud, they’ll call security and they’ll put you in restraints. How does that sound?”

“Unpleasant.” He sighed and sat back in his mobile chair. “I’m sorry. It’s been rough these past few days and I’m worried about Julie.”

“I understand. Can I look at your ankle now?”

“If that’ll amuse you, go right ahead.”

Rachel unwrapped the bandage from his right ankle and carefully probed it with her fingers. “I don’t detect any damage,” she muttered.

“I did say I was uninjured, didn’t I?”

“Then why the bandage?”

“I never said I wasn’t injured at some point.” He stood up, walked around a little and then danced a little jig. “Do I pass?”

Rachel smiled. “I’ll even give you a flying color or two.”

“Most kind. If I won’t be allowed in by Julie, would it be possible for you to check on her for me.”

“Yes, I can do that.”

“Will you?”

“Sure, I’ll be right back.” Rachel stepped out of the room, glanced back to make sure he wasn’t following her, and walked down to the trauma room where Julie was being worked on. She watched through the windows in the doors for a moment before poking her head inside. “Her friend wants to know how she’s doing.”

The mostly bald doctor in charge of Julie’s care glanced up over his glasses at her. “She’s stable, in no immediate danger and should be just fine. Her right leg’s a bit weak, but no need to tell the friend that.”

“Thanks.” She started back but was interrupted by Doctor Williams enroute. She was a woman designed on small lines. While not unattractive, her general facial expressions made her look unappealing. She tended not to be a happy person. “The young man they brought in, how is he doing?”

“He’s alert, uninjured as far as I can tell.”

“Good. Start collecting some identification information for him and his friend.” She thrust an extra clipboard at Rachel and stalked away, her business complete. Rachel quickly stuck her tongue out at Doctor Williams retreating figure and returned to the exam room. Despite looking rather bored, the young man was still there. He raised his eyebrows questioningly at Rachel. “Everything’s going well. She should be fine.”

He smiled, genuinely relaxed. “That’s pleasant to hear.” He sank back on the bed and wrapped his tan trenchcoat tighter around himself.

“I need to ask you some questions for our files.”

“So be it.”

“Your name?”

“Doctor Patrick Peel.”

She wrote that down. “Address?”

“No fixed abode.” Rachel gave him a puzzled look. “My friend and I travel a great deal. Personally I don’t have a home as such. I suppose you could say I live out of my vehicle.” He smirked at this, which she thought was odd, but she wrote it in all the same. “If I can ask, what do you do on these travels? Are you a banker or something?”

“You can ask the question, but I can’t answer it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not allowed to do so.” She looked particularly puzzled at this, so he continued. “If memory serves, I’m only supposed to offer my name, rank, and serial number, only I don’t know that I have a rank and I’ve forgotten my serial number, so that doesn’t leave much else, does it?”

Her eyes widened in realization and he grinned back, satisfied that his hinting had accomplished it’s goal. They were spies or whatever spies were called in this post Cold War era. “Um, well, in that case, what’s your friend’s name then?”

“Steed. Juliana Steed.” He grinned, shifted uncomfortably for a moment, and then resumed grinning at his own personal joke. “Have one of your people call this number, and the rest will be taken care of.” He rattled off a 1-800 number that she transcribed dutifully. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“Rachel. Doctor Rachel Parker.”

“A pleasure to meet you Rachel.” He shifted again and then sat up quickly. “What is back there?” He checked the bed, but whatever had been bothering him wasn’t there. “Is there something on my back?” he questioned.

She stepped closer. She was about to say ‘No’ when she saw something glint in the light. “Actually, I think so.” She peeled a tiny, round green item from the back of his coat and then handed it to him when he turned around. It was a half sphere of green that looked totally unimportant to her, but when he saw it, his face dropped noticeably. “Rachel, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but we are all in grave danger right now.”

“From that?”

“It’s a tracking device. We’ve been followed.” He stared at the small round object for a moment before speaking again. “What do you have in the manner of security at this building?” A loud crash, followed by a loud nervous scream, turned their heads towards the door. “Ah, too late, they’re here.”

Rachel was struggling to wrap her head around these recent developments. “Who’s here?”

“Those who would do us harm,” he replied somewhat enigmatically. He paused again, briefly, and continued “I need to go, I have to lure them away from Julie.”

“They’d do something to her if they found her?”

“At the very least use her against me. If I offer myself as a target to be found, they may not look for her as readily. Hopefully they didn’t mark her like this as well.” He started to mutter to himself and Rachel barely caught what he was saying. “They must have done it when they captured me yesterday, that makes sense.” He removed his sock and shoe from a trenchcoat pocket and quickly began putting them on the foot he’d insisted wasn’t injured. “I must hurry.”

“I’m coming with you.” Rachel realized suddenly that she’d said those words and a thrill of excitement rushed through her. It had been a long time since she’d done something daring and it felt right.

He tied his shoe. “You shouldn’t. It’s likely to be dangerous.”

“I know the hospital, you don’t. I can help you hide.”

“I haven’t the time to argue. Stick with me and don’t get killed, I’ve got enough guilt the last me a few thousand years already so I don’t need any more.” He pushed the door open slightly glanced into the hallway and gestured to her. “Come on.”

More screams rent the air and chills tap danced up and down Rachel’s spine. Doctor Peel was slowly making his way towards the entryway, where the bad guys had likely come from. “Where are you going?” she hissed after catching up.

“They have to know I’m here before they’ll chase me, right?” She nodded. That did make sense. He glanced around the corner, gave her a ‘Stay There’ look and bounced into the next corridor. “Looking for someone?” he questioned loudly.

Rachel stayed put, but peeked around the corner; curious to see whom they’d be avoiding. Her jaw dropped in surprise at the sight. Four very bulky and tall . . . creatures stood in the hallway near the admissions desk that was visibly damaged. Another smaller, but similar creature stood by them, taking charge. All appeared to be wearing some sort of armour, the smaller creature’s being more ornate and featuring a cape. The armour was green and bumpy, as if made from the corpse of an alligator. Tufts of dry brown hair jutted from the joints of the armour. They wore strange green helmets with red visors. The skin that did show underneath the helmet was green and scaly. They were obviously not human. Rachel darted back behind the corner, her heart pounding madly in her chest. She was so confused she could barely think about the fact that she was that confused.

Doctor Peel darted around the corner, drawing her from her non-thoughts. A high pitched whine filled the air, making her wince. The wall behind where the Doctor had been standing shimmered briefly before warping and melting slightly. She stared at it, blinking incredulously. “W-wha . . .” she stammered.

“Sonic guns,” Doctor Peel noted, as if it were nothing. “Come along, they may be bulky, but they’re not that slow.”

She began to run after him, not really thinking about where they were going. “What are those things?” she asked as they rounded a corner.

“The former inhabitants of Mars.”

“Martians?”

“Former Martians,” Doctor Peel corrected helpfully. He opened a door to a stairwell and gestured for her to enter. “What’s wrong? Disappointed that they’re large rather than little green men?”

“No, it’s just that . . . this makes no sense.” Her eyes glazed over slightly, distant and confused.

“They haven’t seen you yet, there’s no need for you to accompany me if you don’t want.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “No, you need my help.”

“If you insist, then move along.” They headed up the stairs. A flight up, they heard the door to the level below crash open. A hissing wheeze echoed through the stairwell. “Doc-tor,” the voice wheezed. “Running iss futile. You will be desstroyed for what you’ve done!”

He tugged Rachel to continue going up the steps, just more quietly than before. “Seems to me that I wasn’t the one that caused the building to collapse on us, that was someone else. Hmm, who could it have been?”

“Do not act the fool with me! You will pay for your interference and the death of my men!”

“Your priorities have been noted. Your men are less important than my interference.” An exasperated noise was his answer. Having climbed another level, Doctor Peel gestured towards the doorway and Rachel nodded at him. He opened the door, trying to be quiet about it and failing miserably. “After him!” hissed the creature from below and the Doctor and Rachel scurried through the door. “Are those doors ever oiled?” he questioned agitatedly.

They moved away from the door and Doctor Peel watched the bustle of the floor they were on while Rachel watched him, wondering what unusual thing would happen next. “We need to get people out of this building. They’re not safe with the Ice Warriors roaming about.”

“Ice Warriors?” Rachel repeated. “I thought they were Mar . . former Martians.”

“It’s a nickname,” he noted, scratching his chin idly, still watching things happen around him. “They’re not particularly fond of it themselves.” He thought for a moment. “It’s a tricky decision. If we find a way to evacuate people, they run the risk of getting injured from the cold until they reach safety, if they stay in the building the Ice Warriors can use them against me or just kill them if they feel impeded. I can’t leave the building because they’ll follow and they’re stronger out in the cold, as well as the fact that there are people out there to be killed as well. Each way one goes the danger is great.”

“Why are they stronger out in the cold?”

“They function better in the cold due to their body chemistry. Inversely, the warmth affects them negatively.” He spun to look at her. “The main heating controls are in the basement, correct?”

“I think so.” He gave her a disappointed look. “I never have to change the temperature of the building generally.”

“Point taken. How do we get to the basement, apart from taking the stairwell behind us or the lifts?”

“There’s another stairwell on the other side of this building.”

“Lead on.” They moved away quickly. Seconds later the massive bulk of an Ice Warrior crashed through the door, hissing and wheezing. They ran, the Doctor yelling for people to get down as the screaming started around them. He whipped Rachel around a corner as the Warrior fired his sonic weapon in their direction. Rachel’s ears rang, but otherwise the blast missed them. Doctor Peel continued running, so Rachel did her best to keep up with him. Suddenly, he darted around an empty wheelchair and moved to the far wall. Rachel watched as he flipped up the plastic cover over the red button in the wall. Gasping for air, she glanced behind them to see the large Ice Warrior moving towards them, it’s clamp like hands opening and closing quickly in a disturbed fidget. Doctor Peel’s face settled into a determined look and slammed his hand down on the button. The fire alarm screeched out its warning. She gasped for air and turned to look at the Ice Warrior again. With surprise she noted that it was down on one knee, grabbing its head in pain. “H-how did that happen?” she questioned tiredly.

“Their helmets tend to trap noise. The alarm should slow them down and it’ll evacuate people. Come on, the basement.” They continued on at a quick jog, saving their energy for when they might need it more. They made their way down the stairwell slowly, trapped by the mass of humanity that was working to escape the building due to the alarm. Once they reached the first floor again, two things happened: the foot traffic lessened as no one else was attempting to reach the basement and the alarm stopped. Rachel gave Doctor Peel a worried look but his gaze remained determined and she felt a wave of trust for this strange man because of it. “Come on,” he noted when she slowed down. “Nearly there.” When she had been little, she had played with her friends’ games of imagination, games of cops and robbers, space adventure, and acting out characters from their favourite movies and television shows. She remembered the thrill of being space pirate Raquel who had always been much more interesting than she felt she was in real life. The games had been fun, but, after a while, they stopped playing them. This was like one of their games, only serious. Doctor Peel fascinated her because he gave off the feeling that he did this sort of thing all the time. The big green aliens didn’t phase him, and he knew how to defeat them. In this game, he’d gotten the hero’s role, the best part, and he was playing it well. She had to help the hero; it was the right thing to do.

He held the heavy basement door open for her and they entered the sweaty dank area below. She found the air a bit thick and hard to breathe with an oily mechanical taste to it. Doctor Peel sniffed it happily. “Ah, it’s warm, isn’t it?” He began skulking around the machinery, looking for the temperature controls. Rachel followed, but at a distance, keeping an eye out for the creature she was sure was waiting to jump out at them. It was dark down here and hiding places were everywhere. The maintenance personnel all seemed to have left when the alarm went off.

When she caught up with the Doctor, he was tinkering with the controls on a large piece of machinery. “I’m sure the person who’s responsible for this won’t be pleased with me, but it’s in a good cause.” He cranked up the thermostat so that the building temperature would rise into the nineties. That task completed, he stood back and looked his work with a smile on his face. “That should do the trick.” He gestured with his head that it was time to go. “Let’s find them.”

“Aren’t we trying to avoid the Ice Warriors?”

“We were. Now we have the advantage, so perhaps now they’ll listen to me. Maybe now I can convince them to leave without causing anyone else further harm.” He had been in the process of walking away, back towards the stairwell. However, when the Ice Warrior staggered out of the shadow, lunging for him, he jumped back, startled and Rachel squeaked in surprise. The Ice Warrior’s breathing was very laboured in the thick warmth of the basement to the point that it was audible above the noisy temperature control machines surrounding them. “You . . mussst . . be . . desstroyed,” the bulky Warrior expressed, barely standing.

Doctor Peel seemed more distressed over the creature’s condition than pleased he was defeating his enemy. “You followed me down here? You fool, you’ll die!”

The Warrior seemed to ignore him, focusing more on the currently difficult concept of aiming his sonic weapon at the Doctor. After a moment, the creature gave up and collapsed. Rachel looked at Doctor Peel and saw the anguish on his face. “What do we do now?”

“What can we do now? He’s too heavy to lift and I can’t significantly change the temperature down here, and if I could it would take a long time to change.” The Warrior groaned once and then, before Rachel’s astonished eyes, seemed to melt away to nothing. Doctor Peel noted this reaction from her. “Self destruct charge that activates upon death, they’re not actually made of ice.” He sighed deeply and rubbed sweat from his nose. “Come on, let’s see if we can find their leader.”

The stairwell felt cold to Rachel compared to the basement. Doctor Peel ‘hmm’ed as they walked upwards. “It’s already getting warm out here.” She looked at him funny and shivered.

They returned to the ER. There they found the more ornate looking, smaller of the Ice Warriors slumped up against the admit desk, across from the doors that led outside. A slight chill would occasionally sneak through the doors, but it was very slight. “Lord Vrassmis, I have taken control of the temperature within the building,” Doctor Peel noted.

“Ironic,” the Ice Lord noted, “asss I have taken control of the temperature outsside thiss building.” He gestured towards the doors with a slight nod of the head and wheezed. “Would thossse doorss open, I would be bathed in life giving cold, but I am too weak from thiss heat to activate the mechanissm. I am weak indoorss and you are weak out of it.” He hissed a bit and suddenly Rachel realized he was laughing. “I am tired.”

“Call your Warriors together,” the Doctor pleaded, “and leave this planet. Promise me this and I will open the door, restore the internal temperature to normal so you can leave safety. There is no need for this to go on any longer.”

Lord Vrassmis lifted his head slightly to look at the Doctor better. For a moment, he did nothing but stare. “I believe you would do that.” Doctor Peel smiled slightly at this declaration of trust. “However, I will not do it.” The Doctor’s face fell instantly. “If we die, sso be it. You cannot sstop what we have begun. There are more of usss. When the cold ssuroundss thiss planet and the humanss are dead, they will come. It will not take long. If we musst die to enssure that, sso be it.” Tiredly, he raised a clamp.

“No!” shouted the Doctor, diving to stop the clamp’s descent. He was a moment too late, as the clamp made contact with a communicator button, sending out a signal. The Doctor rolled to the side, avoiding the slight discharge as the Ice Lord melted away. Sadly, the Doctor stared at the puddle left by the creature. He sighed and shook his head. “That was unnecessary.”

The doors whooshed open, letting in cold and firefighters. Upon seeing them there, the lead firefighter growled at them. “Didn’t you people hear the alarm? You should be evacuated, there’s a fire in here?”

Doctor Peel popped up, comic surprise on his face. “A fire? My goodness!” He pulled a handkerchief from a trenchcoat pocket and mopped his sweaty brow. “I’ve not seen any traces of fire, but the temperature gauge certainly seems to be stuck in here. Perhaps that set off a circuit breaker or some such due to the heat?”

The firefighter was visibly sweating. “That’s entirely possible. We’ll check into that. Until we’re sure, you folks gotta leave.”

“Fair enough.”

“You’ll be escorted to the safe area.” He directed one of his men to take them away and away they went.

Once they got to safety, in the gymnasium of Lincoln High School which was a whole block and a half away, Rachel was located by her workmates who quickly surrounded her and started asking if she was alright, where at she disappeared to, who were those people? Her insistence that those creatures were aliens was met with laughter. They must have been terrorists in costume or something, right? When she went to ask Doctor Peel for confirmation, she found he was gone.

Much later she found him sitting by his injured friend’s bedside. For some reason, she didn’t approach them right away when she noticed they were talking, nor did she leave them alone. For a moment or two, she just listened.

“How you feeling now Julie?”

She was groggy looking, but smiling. “Not bad, mostly just tired and sore. My right leg’s a bit stiff.”

“That sums up the chart pretty well. Nothing serious, nothing that can’t be fixed anyway, hmm?”

“Is everything dealt with?”

“Nearly. If I can figure out a way to shut down the machine, we’ll be fine.”

“Oh, you know you can do that Doctor.”

He smiled. “Most likely. For the moment, you rest. If nothing else, it’ll give me a chance to think.” She nodded and let her eyes rest.

Rachel stepped into view and helloed. The Doctor returned the greeting, apparently undisturbed his moment to think had been removed from him. “Can you do me a favour?”

“If I can,” he answered, “what?”

“Explain to my friends about the Ice Warriors. They think they we just people in suits, terrorists, not aliens.”

The Doctor sighed. “What makes you think they’ll believe me?” That slowed her down. She hadn’t thought of that. She saw no reason not to believe him, and just assumed they’d feel the same. What reason did they have to believe him? “Chances are the incident will be explained away as an attempted firebombing or something similar by terrorists in costume, as they already believe. If you insist they were aliens, they’ll end up putting you through therapy, saying you must have been traumatized by the incident.”

She nodded. He was right; no one would believe her. “They were aliens though, weren’t they?”

“Oh certainly. You didn’t forget about the sonic guns already, did you?”

She shook her head. “That could be classified weaponry or something. How do you know for sure when no one else will believe?”

He smiled strangely and she knew that, whatever he told her, it wouldn’t be the complete truth. “Because I know. I don’t have to believe because I know.”

She knew there was more to it, but if he didn’t want to share it, she couldn’t make him. “Fair enough.”

“Sometimes, even when you know, you can’t convince others. Your friends will likely never believe they saw aliens today, no matter what you tell them.”



He was right. No one ever believed the story. The Doctor and his friend disappeared not long after that, as did their records, charts, and the surveillance footage from the period when the Ice Warri . . . terrorists were in the building. For a while, people were saying someone from a group named ‘UNIT’ came to collect it, but most of the people who said they were there when it got collected have been transferred to other hospitals now. That’s just considered a rumour now.

The Doctor was right, no one believed when I said aliens attacked our hospital. I don’t bring it up much anymore. Some days, I’m not even sure it happened anymore as everyone, the people around me and the media and everyone else, seem so sure it was terrorists. But I know they were aliens . . . weren’t they?

'Planet of the Vampires' Review

‘Planet of the Vampires’ – 1965

Story in Brief: The spacecraft Argos and its sister ship are on a routine investigation of a signal from an uncharted planet when they are suddenly dragged down to the planet in question. Madness breaks out amongst the crewmembers of the Argos, the crew of the other ship may or may not be dead. If they’re not dead, they might be undead…

Thoughts:

This is the best science fiction movie that you’ve probably never seen. Or haven’t seen in years and have forgotten about. Or have never had a chance to see properly. It’s a movie that doesn’t get mentioned often when discussion of ‘great’ movies begins but it should.

The first thing that I noticed and liked was the fact that this movie is based on a previously written story and the opening credits identify not only the magazine it was published in, but even the issue involved. I don’t think I’ve even seen such detail before and it pleased me.

The title of the film isn’t particularly accurate. The attackers aren’t ‘vampires’ of any traditional sense, so you shouldn’t expect a planet filled with Dracula clones. The inhabitants of the planet in question do feed off the living in a sense, but it’s stretching things to call them vampires.

I found the flow of the tale to be very logical. First off, the characters aren’t introduced in a traditional manner where each character gets their name, job, and ‘quirk’ announced within moments of their first appearance. The people in this film obviously know each other and we are in a position where we are suddenly watching their actions. They continue their lives as if they were not being watched. We get the information we need to understand what’s going on, just not before we need it. Also, as the story progresses, there are no sudden leaps of logic, where the protagonists suddenly know something they need to know. Exploration as well as trial and error is seen at work. Until the situation gets explained to the crew by one of the antagonists, they don’t understand what’s going on, they’ve only got guesses with which to work. All this adds a slight hint of realism to the film.

Admittedly some of the character development is thin and some things aren’t explained (for instance, the crew wear insignia which seems to indicate their rank, but the Captain is constantly called ‘Mark’ instead of ‘Captain’) but the lack of some details is unimportant really (so the Captain prefers to be called by his name instead of his rank, that’s his right and it subtly hints at his character traits). We are given a chance to understand the emotions and reasons behind the actions of most of the character we see and therefore have a chance to care about their continued survival. So what if we don’t find out about their favourite colour, it’s not really important to the story.

The film is of Italian origin and therefore was likely filmed primarily (at least) in Italian. The film is dubbed into English without any option to hear the original Italian track with English subtitles. This is not a problem as the film is dubbed very well. The lines are performed as opposed to merely spoken in English and there appears to have been a successful effort to have the words match the lip movements on the screen.

The main reason I like this film is due to it’s rich colourful look which is due to it’s director: Mario Bava. Bava is best known for his colourfully lit and interestingly shot horror films. This film fits easily into his normal work, the only difference is the outer space setting. Strange lighting and a constant gentle fog help transform a studio floor into an alien planet. Creative methods of shooting, such as using models in the foreground with actors in the background in order to add to the perceived size of the set, help give the film a unique look as well as making the film look high budget. The set design and the costume design also add to this look. The film is a treat for the eyes. Very few effects don’t work well. Bava obviously knew how to get a lot out of a little.

The DVD is part of the MGM Midnite Movies line. Like most of the disks in the series, the film looks like it has been remastered for this release. The film is exceptionally clean with few marks to distract the eye. The colours are bright and rich, as well they should be for this film. The sound is clean and crisp without any pops or hisses. The only extra is a trailer for the film that is in an acceptable condition.

Since SRP for this title is $15 and it can easily be found for $10, I heartily recommend it. There’s nothing bad about this film or DVD.

(Standard pricing and availability may have changed disclaimers apply.)

Crossword Puzzle Tries to Show What's Wrong with Me

Just a few minutes ago I was working on a crossword puzzle. The clue was 'kind of party' and the boxes indicated that the answer was 6 letters long. Of that, I'd gotten five of the letters already from other clues so I was already at D_NNER.

Eventually, when the cross clue wouldn't fit, I figured out that the answer was supposed to be 'DINNER'.

Originally I wrote 'DONNER', which, in a way, was a dinner party I guess.

Guess I was behind on my newsgathering this weekend

Forrest J Ackerman died last Friday. I never met him, never really read the magazine he was famous for, but, in many ways he was the original Compounded Geek. For that matter, in many ways, he was the first Geek.

So, I'm just going to point you to this and stay quiet today:
http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_12_05.html#016305

Almost part of the show

I have no doubt in my mind that Scott Taylor is a generally nice guy. Like all people, I'm sure he has his moments where he's less than pleasant or what have you, but I've seen his friendly nature, patience with children, and willingness to share his time with those interested in doing so. He tries to make people happy. I have no problems with him on those levels. When he climbs into the wrestling ring as Scotty 2 Hottie, he annoys me.

Now, this is not always a problem. When it comes to wrestling, the way a person acts normally and the way the act in the ring can be totally different. Some of the nastiest people in the ring are the nicest outside it. Scotty 2 Hottie has a character that's a good guy. He connects with the crowd are they react positively to what he does. I cannot fault him for doing this because it obviously works for him. Personally I don't care for his shtick but it's my right to dislike it just as much as it's someone else's right to like it. I don't criticize those that enjoy it. Good for them.

Scotty was in the second match of the show we went to see on Friday night. Obviously I wasn't inclined to cheer for him. As it was a 'three way dance' match, a match where three wrestlers face off against each other until one manages to pin another, I considered his opponents. 'Electric' Eric Freedom is a local level wrestler that I'm familiar with to a reasonable degree. He generally works as a bad guy and I don't care much for his style either so I couldn't cheer for him. That left Lenny Lane.

I'm mostly familiar with Lenny's work in WCW during the late 1990s. He was never a guy that gained a lot of attention but he was involved in some storylines at times. I always thought he did good with what he was given but he never clicked in a way that would make him a star. He was at an earlier local show and I was able to see his work and meet him. I couldn't say I was ever a big fan but I am pro-Lenny. As he entered the arena, I applauded and cheered a bit for him.

Somehow, in an unplanned way, all five of us in our group seated in the fifth row were soon standing, pointing to the ring, and chanting 'Lenny'. Now, both Eric and Lenny were scheduled to work heel, play bad guys, so our sudden chanting for Lenny 'made no sense'. The majority of the crowd was confused, looking at us strangely or hollering for us to settle down. Lenny looked confused as well, but grinned. He quickly started working with us. Standing on the turnbuckle, he pointed to us. We cheered. He flexed. We cheered. Scotty came out and, good-naturedly, we booed.

The bell rang to start the match. Scotty and Eric locked up on the far side of the ring. Lenny posed for us further, ignoring the action behind him. We cheered. Thusly distracted by us, he backed into Scotty and was drop toe-holded into trouble, much to our dismay.

I figured out the basic storyline of the match rather quickly. With Eric and Lenny both playing the heel, they would team up to beat down Scotty. This occurred as expected. The goal here is to have the crowd, who by in large is supporting him, cheer for him to survive the assault of the bad guys and find a way to succeed. The formula worked. The crowd booed as poor Scotty was ganged up on. One of the heels would get knocked away, Scotty would have a moment to try to have the upper hand in a one on one situation, but then the heel would recover and it would once again be two on one. When Lenny succeeded, we cheered. When he was knocked down, we shouted encouragement.

While I knew Scotty would win, I wasn't sure what the actual end sequence would be. I did expect a breakdown in the heels and that did happen. Eventually they beat down Scotty enough to get him in a pining predicament. One tried to pin him, only to be pulled off by the other. They argued, they fought, and then frustrated, Lenny walked out. this took long enough for Scotty to recover and he was able to defeat Eric for the win.

Especially since we were so engaged in it, the match was enjoyable to watch. Since Scotty won, we knew there would be an extended dance sequence in celebration. Brian and I got up to visit the nearby concessions stand. As it happens, a door to the backstage area also lead to the area by the concessions stand. Standing there was Lenny, apparently looking for us.

We shook hands and chit-chatted with him for a moment. We hoped we hadn't thrown them off too badly and he assured us all was well. He said he'd joked with the guys 'I bet they're not even from Minnesota' as Lenny is. He was right. We thanked him, he thanked us, and we went for beer.

It was a great moment. We caused some other 'trouble' during the show but that was the best part; connecting up with the guys in the ring and sort of becoming part of the show.