Headlong and Fingers Crossed

Ghost Cats in Central Florida - A True Story

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 11:00:00 +0000

As some of you have heard, I've done a few speaking engagements over the past couple of years, mostly discussing the horror genre, writing and my book, The Wash. A question I've been asked on more than one occasion is whether I believe in the supernatural. You'd think that as a horror fan I'd have a healthy belief in all things paranormal. After all, I've spent an unusual amount of time reading, watching and writing about the subject. The fact is though, that when people asked me about it, my answer was always, "I want to."

That was the truth. I wanted desperately to believe that there was something supernatural, otherworldly, downright frightening and unbelievable out there but the fact was I'd never experienced anything like that firsthand. I'd visited haunted houses, haunted forests and places where stories of monsters abound but I'd never seen one for myself. Because of that, I had reached the conclusion that there really wasn't any truth to the stories I'd heard.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't think the people who did believe in that were crazy. I believed that they honestly thought they'd seen otherworldly phenomena, but I was sure there had to be an explanation for it. I just thought they weren't thinking clearly.

That is, until about a week ago. Now, I'm a believer.

My father and stepmother live on a lake in Central Florida. It's one of my favorite places to visit and I don't get there often enough. It's a great place to reset for me and last week I was there visiting. For years, they had a solid black cat named Ninja. He was an indoor cat and was an unlikely addition to the house at first. My father had always been a dog person but my stepmother agreed to foster him when he was young and my father and he became quick friends. He lived with them for over 20 years and died less than a year ago.

I have a major allergy to cats. Anytime I'd visit, I'd be doped up on Allegra and sometimes even had to supplement it with Benedryl just to get through the week, but Ninja was awesome. Occasionally, he'd come up and want me to pet him and I gladly would, even though my fingers would begin to itch almost immediately. He was a cool cat who continued to be playful even when he got older. So when he died, it left a hole in their household.

I wasn't here to experience just how much of one. I just knew he was a much loved pet.

Last Tuesday, my father and I sat out on the back porch and talked until it was pretty late. Finally, he decided to call it a night and I headed in and took a shower before laying down myself. As I lay on the bed in the guest room, I felt something jump up on the bed at my feet and then walk along the side of the bed next to the wall. I could feel every footstep.

I bolted upright! I thought for sure that one of the two outside cats had gotten in. I hit the light and looked around. There was nothing there. Nothing. Yet, without a doubt, I felt a cat jump up on the foot of the bed and walk along the edge next to the wall, toward my head. It freaked me out a little but then I started explaining it away. Maybe I was dozing. Maybe it was a dream. All the usual excuses.

The next evening, we were all talking after dinner and I mentioned it to my stepmother. Her eyes lit up and she said, "That happened to me also!"

A month after Ninja died, she felt him jump up on the exact same bed, in the exact same place and take the same route along the edge before climbing onto her chest. It was something he'd done countless times before when he was alive. I never knew he did that though. Because of my allergy, when I stayed with them I kept the door closed, so I never experienced Ninja jumping on the bed to come visit.

I've played it over in my head repeatedly since last week, but I have no doubt about what I felt and having it corroborated by my stepmother has cemented my belief that I actually experienced my first ghost, and a cat ghost to boot!

Pretty crazy, huh?

Anyway, I thought I'd pass it along because it's truly changed the way I look at some of the stories I've read and heard.

There aren't any ghost cats in The Wash or in my upcoming book, but there are ghosts in my short story A Debt to the Dead. Check it out if you haven't already. More is on the way.

Lizards - Big and Small (plus book news)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Hello! Hello!

I know many of you probably think I've fallen off the face of the Earth. After many months of regularly bringing you posts about music, movies, horror, etc., the second quarter of 2019 has been pretty quiet here on the blog. Some of that is due to weird circumstances that you can piece together from previous posts. Some of it is due to focusing efforts in other places. In the end, what you need to know is that things are good overall and progress has been made.

As I write this, I'm sitting on a screened porch looking out at Lake Dora in Tavares, Florida. Other than my father (who is taking a nap), I'm currently accompanied by an old dog named Toby, a cat named Patches (probably sleeping directly beneath me under the porch in an effort to stay cool) and no less than 30 small lizards feasting on lake flies and trying to stay out of the direct sunlight of a summer day.

There are larger lizards about also. A five foot alligator is somewhere off the dock in front of me. He's not visible but he hangs out in this area. We tend to see him at dusk. His larger neighbor runs 10 - 12 feet and while he doesn't generally patrol this part of the lake, he made an appearance yesterday afternoon as he calmly swam about 20 yards off the end of the dock with the confidence of something that is the apex predator of these parts.

I should also point out that it's in the mid-90's here with humidity in the high 80's. I'm drenched in sweat. I tried to write inside but the AC and soft chairs were putting me to sleep. This might be the only time in my life that I've actually worked up a sweat while writing. Let's be honest though, in these conditions, you work up a sweat just breathing.

While The Wash was set in Utah, my upcoming book and many of the other books I'm currently working on are set in Florida and Georgia. You may wonder why this is if all you've ever read is this blog. After all, I have entire series of posts devoted to weird places in Southern California but nary a mention of Georgia or Florida. The fact is, I love California. I love it for its geography, its diversity, its politics and because of the incredible friends and family I've managed to acquire there.

I once read an interview with the musician Flea from the band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He said California is like an incurable virus. It gets under your skin and the rest of your life, no matter where you are, when you're away from it, you just want to get back to it.

That's true but for me the same can be said for this place. I feel its pull when I'm in SoCal. No matter how long I stay away, once I come back and feel the heat and humidity, it just feels like home. I'll be back in California within a week and once I'm there, I'll miss all of this again. It'll start creeping into all of my writing because that's the best way for me to hold onto it.

Conversely, I'm sure if I lived in Florida year round, all of my books would be set in California. That's just the way it works.

Speaking of books, my new one is complete and a publisher is currently considering it. Keep your fingers crossed for me. As I've mentioned previously, it's set in the South and it's definitely a different beast than The Wash was. This one is a lot more fun and involves swamp witches, moonshiners and a kaiju-sized catfish. No news yet on when it will be available but I'll post more here once I know.

I've got two more I'm in process on. One is the fabled "Redneck DaVinci Code" book and the other a ghost story about America. The latter will be the first I've ever set in California. Both are about a third complete but moving along nicely.

I'm still determining what the next series should be for this blog. I feel the movie reviews were getting a bit banal and I don't want this to get stale. If you have suggestions on what you'd like to see here, let me know.

In the meantime, keep an eye on this space. I'll have more news to come soon.

Until then, the lizards, the cat and I wish all of you well.

The dog is so old it's hard to tell what he's wishing at the moment, but it probably involves either a treat, a nap or a walk.

Cary

Lisanne Harrington - Remembered

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Tue, 28 May 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Last week, I lost one of my favorite people on the planet. Lisanne Harrington was a fellow author, horror enthusiast and my favorite person to collaborate with. She had a sharp wit and a direct approach that was refreshing while never feeling antagonistic. If you wanted to know what she was thinking, you just needed to ask. She'd tell you. She'd probably make you laugh in the process.

We initially met when she became a member of O.C. Fictionaires. She was the only other horror writer in the bunch and soon we bonded over a shared love of monsters. Lisanne's blog was one of my favorite things to read every week. It featured a different creature in each post and explored the legends, facts and overall history of each.

You can find it here.

Not long after we met, I asked if she'd let me interview her for this blog. We chatted for the better part of two hours and you can read most of that conversation here.

We mentioned doing a followup a few times but never got around to it.

Lisanne wrote three volumes in her Wolf Creek Mysteries series. They are considered YA, but when I asked her about that, she said, "My publisher did that. I just wrote a horror novel."

When I pressed her on how she came up with the idea, she told me what she told everyone.

"The characters told me the story. I just listened to them."

Her most recent book shifted gears to murder mystery. Murder in the Family is the kind of book that is grounded in reality but has those little, subtle nods that make you wonder if something otherworldly could be going on. It's the kind of novel I love and am simultaneously envious of. You can order it and any of her others at her Amazon Author's page.

Over the course of the last year and a half, the two of us collaborated on a number of articles on horror writing. Those were posted on the OC Writer's Blog under the Creaky Hinge title. We had gotten so used to working together, that we were often finishing each other's sentences, improving each other's arguments, etc. This led us to think about collaborating on something bigger, so sometime around February of this year, we came up with the idea of writing a book together. It was going to be nonfiction and would act as a beginners guide to horror.

The last thing we corresponded on was the outline to that book. I'd drafted it up and sent it her way. She'd e-mailed back that it looked good but she wanted to take another glance at it after she got back from the hospital. She was going to have some treatments done that were hopefully going to kick the nasty cough she hadn't been able to shake for months.

I never got a chance to speak to her again.

She'd likely be annoyed that I'm even writing this post.

Too bad, Lisanne. This is what you get for not being here to stop me.

My heart goes out to your family and friends. I'm going to miss writing with you and talking about horror books and movies. May there be a marathon of all your favorites wherever you are now.

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 13 - The 27th Day

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 02 May 2019 14:00:00 +0000

One thing about going back and looking at old horror movies is that every now and then, you get bad information. For instance, this was recommended via a website article on obscure horror movies. It was a listicle of 10 or 15 films they recommended you see. This is not a horror film. This is a sci-fi film. That said, we still watched it and were pleasantly surprised at some of it.

The premise is interesting. Aliens abduct people from different countries and give them each a special device that has three radioactive weapons in capsule form. Only the abductees can open the case, but once the case is open, anyone could set off the weapons. To use the weapon, you simply speak the latitude and longitude and press the button. Then all human life (only human life) within 1,000 miles of that location will disappear.

Why would aliens do this? Well their planet is dying but they are a peaceful bunch. They won't invade but if humans can't overcome their warlike nature and happen to blow each other up, then the aliens can move right in. Great plan, right? Here's the next catch. If everyone can hold out for 27 days then the weapons become unusable.

All the abductees are sent back and then the aliens do something completely unexpected. They make an announcement to everyone on Earth about what they've done and name the people who have the weapons. This sends all the governments of the world scrambling to find the people and gain access to the devices.

Now, that does sound like a decent (if overly complicated) plot. It's not actually that bad either. It's just slow at times. The ending is quite a surprise and ends up being a great example of Hollywood playing up the Cold War in these films. Here's what the girls thought.

The 27th Day Scoresheet

Was it ever night time? -1
Did it focus on any other day? - 1
Was there Tuna Rarebit? 0
Were there aliens? +1
Bonus - did the aliens speak English? +1
Was there atomic stuff? + 2
Was there an educational short? 0
Were there fancy hats? 0
Did anyone slide over from the passenger seat to the driver seat of the car? 0
Was there a housewife? 0
Was there a threat of the world ending? +1
Were there more than three people who smoked? +1
Was it set in the arctic, a desert or swamp?
Was there a decent plot that progressed? +1

Total - 5

The 27th Day can be found on YouTube. Here's the link!

Procrastination and The Art of Ignoring Your Own Advice

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 14:00:00 +0000

For those of you who don't know, I've been collaborating with fellow author Lisanne Harrington on a series of columns for O.C. Writers Blog. Over the last year and a half or so, we've tackled all kinds of subjects and on more than one occasion, we've discussed different techniques for buckling down and getting your book finished.

Fast forward to the last two months where I have actively worked on any other project except completing my next book... WHICH IS LITERALLY ONLY ABOUT EIGHT OR NINE CHAPTERS AWAY FROM COMPLETION! So why don't I take my own advice and buckle down to finish it?

No excuses. The bottom line is that I've just been lazy about it. I could list out a million reasons why from work to being sick to wanting to spend time with family, etc. They'd all be true, but at the same time I have a laptop and I could easily carve out an hour a day to work on it.

All of that to say this. I'm getting it done in May. That's my promise to those of you who still check in on this blog and who enjoyed The Wash. By the end of May, I will have it in a condition where I won't feel embarrassed to send it to some trusted beta readers. The goal is still to publish by the end of the year.

What's it about, you ask?

It's about a man named Phil.

Oh, and it's also about southern swamp witches, a giant catfish monster, Russian folk magic and a girl named Arlene who would just as soon kick your ass than wave hello. Also there's the occasional reanimated dead thing.

So, you know... the usual.

Watch this space for updates. You may also find a preview or two in the coming months.

Until the end of May, this blog will continue to host the weekly b-movie reviews and I'll post up links on FB.

See you soon!

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 12 - The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 14:00:00 +0000

So this week's movie was a total mystery. I don't even remember how I found out about this one but here we were about to fire it up on a Sunday night and Karen and Lil were trying to get an idea of what their criteria for the list would be. We looked at all the clues we could pull from the title and the poster art, then came up with something we figured would yield some results.

For instance, if you're watching any horror or sci-fi movie from the 1950's then you can probably bank on there being some talk about atomic radiation. Also, it's a general rule of thumb that in every big bug movie someone will put on an educational short film to explain what's happening (a favorite of Karen's and why it exists on every list she makes for these). So after some debate, we hit play and settled in to one of the worst but funny movies I've seen in a while. I'm not sure I can recommend it. At the same time, I kind of want to see it again.

So there's this town on the California coast where sailors/fishermen are being killed by something. Our hero looks like a walking ad for hair oil and nicotine. He happens to be a doctor who's published papers on the effects of atomic radiation on marine life. He's here to see a local scientist who may also be doing experiments on this topic. Let's just say that there is intrigue and red communists everywhere in this flick... Well, sort of. I mean, there are some kind of shadowy agents who we can assume are communists and there's a lot of double crossing and spying happening which should be intriguing but is really just slow.

There is a "Phantom" of sorts. It's a mutated something or other that looks like that lizard guy from Star Trek only with bigger teeth and a ridge on his head. He's guarding a uranium deposit that everyone's trying to find the location of. Those that do, even by accident, get killed by the creature pretty quickly.

So, how did the girls do in their guessing and scoring?

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues Scoresheet!

Was there a Phantom? +1
Was there an Opera? 0
Were there submarines? -1
Was there atomic stuff? +2
Was there an educational short? -2
Were there commies? 0
Was there military might on display? 0
Were there octopus or squid? 0
Was there a "man meeting"? 0
Was anyone sea sick? 0
Was there a scene where a character mansplained to a female? 0
Was there a decent plot? 0.5

Total: 0.5

Yeah, it's pretty bad. Not quite funny/bad enough for me to recommend to anyone, but I'll probably catch it again at some point. You can find the complete film on YouTube if you're interested. Here's the link!

Next week, we'll be checking out a sci-fi film with a great premise. See you then!

MONSTERPALOOZA 2019!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Yes, it's that time of year when my family journeys up to Pasadena to experience my personal favorite convention, Monsterpalooza! Once again, the experience was fantastic. For those who don't know, it's a horror convention that began as a showcase for makeup and mask-making companies. It's morphed into a celebration of all things horror. There are still makeup and effects companies showing off their wares, but now there are celebrities signing autographs, special film premieres and panels that span subjects from upcoming blockbusters (like Godzilla: King of Monsters) to previews of this year's Universal Halloween Horror Nights. There are even makeup tutorials if you're so inclined.

This year, we got to see some old friends like Lisanne Harrington and James, Matt, Shawn and Larry from the Monster Party podcast. This was also the first year that Karen went with Lil and I so we got to experience it through a first timer's eyes. That's always fun. Here are some of the cool things from this year's con.

This larger than life fly model chilling out and eating popcorn with it's "baby" was just awesome. As weird as it sounds, I'd have loved to have this sitting next to the stereo in my home office.

This macabre Easter get together was another highlight. Unlike the fly above, this one was tiny with the whole scene only measuring about a foot and a half on each side.

The deer head above is by one of the most unique artists I know of. Brooke Weston is a "rogue taxidermist" who creates miniature worlds within taxidermy animals. This particular piece is called Vermillion Temple and I encourage you to go to his website (linked here) to get a better look. Lil and I were in Burbank one time and managed to run across a number of Weston's pieces at the Bearded Lady Oddities Shop. They are amazing. I honestly hope that one day I'll have one hanging on my office wall.

Of course the cosplay is insane. The woman in black above was especially stunning and I had to get a picture with the Tar Man from Return of the Living Dead. Speaking of makeup, there were fantastic examples and demonstrations all across the convention floor. Check some of these out.

And no visit to Monsterpalooza would be complete without a trip through the museum. This year, my favorite pieces were The Right Hand of Doom from Del Toro's Hellboy movie and the actual puppet prop used during the transformation scene in the classic snake/man hybrid movie Ssssss.

There are a lot of horror conventions out there but Monsterpalooza is something special. By the next morning, I was already wishing I had another day to go back and take everything in again.

If you get a chance to visit SoCal in the spring, you should try to coordinate your visit to check this out. It really is fantastic!

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 11 - The Alligator People (1959)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 14:00:00 +0000

There are plenty of cheaply made horror movies out there that I haven't seen. With the boom in the genre that happened in the 1940's and 50's, bottom of the barrel companies came out of the woodwork to cash in on the craze.

The Alligator People (1959) can easily be considered one of those. That said, there are a few actors out there who I strive to find anything they've done. Lon Chaney Jr. happens to be one of those. I knew that this film came late in his career and that he wasn't in the best shape both as a human being and an actor. At this stage in his career, Chaney reportedly was almost impossible to work with after lunch due to an epic alcohol issue.

Still, he's great in most of these types of films so it had to go on this list. I knew to expect a crappy plot, cheesy effects and questionable acting. I was not disappointed on most levels. That said, Chaney's worth watching and the plot is a lot of fun even if it is horrible.

Basically, this movie comes off as a southern gothic tragedy except with alligator people.

The story begins with a woman going under hypnosis to recover a lost memory. The story that unfolds includes her disappearing fiance, an old plantation in Louisiana, experiments with atomic isotopes and yes... Alligator/human hybrids that are hilarious!

Don't take my word for it though. Karen and Lil also loved this one. They decided to keep separate lists this time but hey, the results speak for themselves!

The Alligator People Rubric

Lil's

Are there alligators? +5

Are there people? +5

Are there actually alligator people? +100

Lil's total: 110

Karen's

Were there educational shorts? 1

Were there atomic references? 2

Was there a lady science assitant? 1

Were there fancy hats? 0

Was there a decent plot? 2

Was there nonrepetitive music? 1

Was there a tiny pony? 0

Was there a love interest? 2

Was there an expert in a weird science field? 1

Was there an expedition? 0

Karen's Total: 10

For those of you who haven't been following this arbitrary rating system, those are two HUGE scores!

Another great thing about this movie is the overall lesson it tries to teach. That lesson is simply to repress anything unpleasant. Seriously.

Great 1950's thinking!

Anyway, The Alligator People is a fun time if you're into this sort of thing. At the very least, you'll have a good time watching the actors (yes, the actual actors) running near, over and practically on top of live alligators. It's not as exciting as watching Roar!, but it's still pretty funny. You can stream The Alligator People in its entirety (and 100% free) on YouTube.

Exploring Japan Vol. 24 - Funny Stuff!

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 11:00:00 +0000

For what seems like it will be the final installment of this series for now, I want to take a minute to just point out some of the funny things that we've seen while visiting. As Americans, if you don't speak the language then there are things that just won't translate the same way visually. We've had a great time over the years wandering grocery or drug stores and just giggling over the product packaging. Here are some of our favorites.

When you're buying a sticky mouse trap, do you really need to see the weeping mouse stuck to the pad? Apparently, you do!

Want to get rid of those pesky nose hairs? This nostril waxing kit will do the trick, but this guy's expression kills me every time. He's so excited!

This was literally on the back of a Wendy's takeout bag. We have no idea what it's about.

You know that problem you have where giant sheets of skin peel off your feet? You don't? Neither did I but apparently it's a thing and this will make your feel baby smooth!

One of my favorites was on the wall of the Shinkansen. This ad featuring Steve Wozniak was on every train we rode during our trek down to Hiroshima. After a while, it went from being funny to just creepy.

Product ads aside, there are also great signs around that are designed to steer you in the right direction. Some explain everything with an image.

Beware the pigeons. They're evil and they have good aim.

Other signs are meant for English speaking visitors and sometimes the fun is in how they're phrased. Other times, it's about the imagery behind the wording.

I love the idea that if you change your clothes in this bathroom stall, you will be transported to an old graveyard and preyed upon by bats.

Other times, it's just something lost in translation. For instance, this sign advertising "A Thousand flavors that blow." I believe it wraps around to the other side of this store and says "your mind", however when you walk up on it, you just see the first line.

My all time favorite though comes at the expense of someone who does speak English and decided to be an asshole. At the fish market in Tokyo, we were wandering the stalls when we saw this sign. We're used to seeing broken English and in fact, it doesn't even phase us. We get what the meaning is and we move on.

However this sign was the gift that kept on giving. Some jerk had decided to try to correct the sign in an obvious comment on the broken English. They (of course) made a mistake and got schooled by someone else, but it didn't stop there. I could not stop laughing. I've blown it up so you can take it all in. If you're having trouble seeing how this works, I'll break it down below.

1. The sign originally read "Please do not eat this place."

2. Some jerk wrote "at" and put an arrow in as an obvious slam on the quality of the sentence.

3. Someone else wrote "IN" to correct the first person. Had they left it at that, it would have been fine, but they added "Grammer issues roll eyes" and "Don't be a shitty tourist".

4. But as you can obviously see, they misspelled "Grammar" so a third person took a green pen and corrected that.

I'm not kidding. I literally laughed at this for hours after seeing it.

Anyway, thanks for reading these posts. It's been great fun writing them and reliving our trips. For those wondering if we'll be going again soon, the answer is, "some of us will". The girls head to Tokyo for a full month later this year. I'll be staying back as I have some deadlines approaching that include delivering my next book as well as writing on a brand new project.

With any luck, I'll go back a year from now. Don't worry though. I'm sure that they'll come back with brand new adventures to report on and I'll see if I can't pull together some fresh installments.

See you soon!

A Debt to the Dead - Free!

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 14:00:00 +0000

Well, the ride is over. A Debt to the Dead did not make it into the finals for Screencraft's Cinematic Short Story Awards. That's okay though. I am grateful and amazed that it got as far as it did.

I'd like to say thanks to all of you out there who cheered it on as the contest progressed. I truly appreciate the words of encouragement. You folks are the best!

To say thanks, I'd like to offer all of you who have not read the story a chance to do so. Below is a link to download A Debt to the Dead. I hope you enjoy it and if you do, please pass along the link to others who you think may like it.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A DEBT TO THE DEAD

There are more stories coming. Finding time to write for fun has been hard lately as I've done a lot of traveling and my day job has taken a lot of my time, but trust me when I say that I'm plugging away. I'm looking forward to dropping more content on you very soon.

Until then, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did writing it.

See you soon!

Exploring Japan Vol. 23 - Fun Foods!

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:00:00 +0000

So for almost half a year, we've explored a ton of different places to go and things to do in Japan. One thing that we've failed to discuss is the food. Now, everyone knows about sushi and ramen and gyoza. I'm not going to spend any time talking about the normal stuff. The fact is, if you go to Tokyo, those foods are everywhere and most places are very good.

Definitely go to the fish market in Tokyo if you have the time. You can hit up the stands outside the market proper and get some of the freshest sushi you'll ever find. I had uni (sea urchin) that blew my mind and it wasn't just a little bit on some rice. It was the whole urchin, prepared and given to me with a small spoon, all for about $8.00. The flavor was nutty and salty and unbelievably fresh.

Another fun thing are the Japanese bakeries. They're a great place to grab a bite for breakfast or lunch. You'll find them everywhere and they serve up plenty of fresh breads and muffins, some in fun shapes and with meat baked into them.

Still, that's not really what I meant to write this column about. You see, Japan has some of the best snack food places under the sun. You can find a ton of them in Harajuku and they're well worth exploring.

Chips!

The most well renowned potato chip company in Japan is Calbee. You can find their chips in most stores, however they also have stands in some malls. The first one we visited was on Takeshita Street in Harajuku. There you can order your chips fresh and ask for a variety of flavors. They will slice the potatoes, drop them in the oil, dry them off and present them to you with the flavor of your choice drizzled over them. With these, we were going for a salty sweet flavor so white chocolate, salt and mocha powder was the order of the day. You could also get many other flavors including maple syrup and even ice cream on the side. Their fries are also very, very popular.

Crepes!

Takeshita Street is known for its crepes. There are at least four stands like this one on that small stretch of shops and all of them look amazing. Go early because they do tend to run out of certain ingredients the later it gets, especially the fruits.

Cotton Candy!

This one is insane! This shop makes cotton candy that is as much a piece of art as it is delicious. Every single layer that you see is a different flavor of sugar. Grape. Apple. Blueberry. It's all there and to be honest, we loved all of them. The woman who built this gorgeous beast even stopped midway through the first one she started and threw it away. It did not meet her standards so she started again.

Anyway, Harajuku is definitely a place you should go to just for the people watching, but while you're there you should indulge yourself. You definitely won't find anything like this anywhere else!

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 10 - Doctor X (1931)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 11:00:00 +0000

This week we’re looking at another film that I’d seen stills from in countless film guides and monster magazines. Doctor X stars Lionel Atwill (a man who was a monster in his own way in real life). I had no idea what to expect here and therefore neither did the girls. However we were pleasantly surprised, at least for the first half.

Doctor X plays out like a whodunnit. There is a serial murderer on the loose who kills during the full moon. The police have deduced that the killer must be one of the doctors in a nearby institute because the killings seem to be in close proximity. They approach Doctor Xavier (Doctor X) about it and threaten to open an investigation. Instead, he convinces them to let him conduct his own experiment to find the killer.

A couple of cool things to note about this one. If you see a color print like we did, then you’re looking at one of the earliest examples of Technicolor. Color prints were distributed to big markets while black and white prints went to smaller cities due to the cost of reproduction. In fact, the color version was thought to be lost after 1948, when Technicolor got rid of all their old reels of this early process. Thirty years later, a print was found in the private collection of Jack L. Warner and the DVD we watched was a transfer from that print.

Also, this is what is called a Pre-Code film, meaning that you’ll see some “morally questionable” material. In this case, cannibalism, murder and even a brothel. Finally, you also get Fay Wray (King Kong) playing Doctor X’s daughter and to be honest, she’s always fun to watch.

The bad thing about the film is just that it goes on a little too long with no killing. It’s a lot of investigation and some light-hearted comedy here and there with only two glimpses of the killer before the climax. To be perfectly honest, there was a point in the middle of the film where I forgot there was even a killer still on the loose!

Still it’s a fun movie and if you’re a fan of mad scientist laboratories, this one has the most amazing one I’ve ever seen.

So what did the girls’ think?

The Old Movie Rubric - Doctor X (1932)

1. It has a doctor: +1

2. It has a valid plot: +1

3. It has acceptable acting: +1

4. It has an educational short: -2

5. Daytime for nighttime filming: 0

6. Sexist jokes: 0

7. Helpless female: +1

8. Female science assistant: 0

9. Fancy hat (two additional points if a millenary is in the film): +0.5

10. Dry erase pens that don’t run out of ink while scoring the film: -1

11. Someone gets into the passenger side of the car and slides over to the driver’s side: 0

12. Ridiculous laboratory: +3

13. Maniacal laugh: +1

14. Live animals used as props: 0

Total Score: 5.5

So yeah, a middling score. When I asked why, they agreed with me that it's just a little too long.

However, they both loved the first half and were very, very impressed by the size of the laboratory. Seriously, watch it just for that. I know size isn’t supposed to matter but…

See you next week!

Exploring Japan Vol. 22 - Tokyo's Amazing Parks

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Over the past 20 weeks, we've explored all kinds of fun stuff in Japan, but the truth is, that exploring Tokyo can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. Aside from the fact that you probably don't speak the language, it's a busy city. There are trains, taxis, subways, people and all manner of lights and sounds around you. Every now and then, you just feel like you need a break.

Well, you're not alone. Most city-dwellers in Tokyo feel the same and thanks to a very strong cultural push to keep some reverence for nature, the city is filled with parks. In the collective month of time that we've spent in Tokyo over the last two years, we've explored quite a few. Some we just stumbled on. Others, we sought out on recommendations. In almost every case though, they do exactly what's intended. They give you a chance to take a breath, relax and recharge.

When you should visit Tokyo's parks really depends on what you're looking for. If you're just looking to relax or wander aimlessly, then go during the week (preferably mid-week). Most people will be working and you'll have few visitors around you. If you're looking to people watch, then go on a weekend. You will find way more people doing strange things than you would ever dream.

At Yoyogi Park, right next to Meiji Shrine, you'll find a huge area with ponds, bike paths and large gatherings of clubs. On the weekend, many people gather here and specific clubs dedicated to things like photography or juggling can be found hanging out and practicing together. The picture below is actually the juggling club we stumbled on.

Yoyogi also gets its fair share of sunbathers around the main pond. Karen and Lil were especially drawn to observing one guy in a thong. I have a very candid picture of them staring that they had no idea I was taking. It won't be posted here but trust me when I say it's the best photo I took on the entire trip.

At Yoyogi you can also rent bikes and there's even a small bike course for beginners and young children. It's a great place to kill an hour or two between visiting the shrine and heading to Harajuku which is just a quick walk from the park entrance.

Let's say you're not up for a lot of people though. Then head to Ueno Park. It's actually the site of the oldest dedicated park in Tokyo.

There are paths to walk, pedal boats to rent and the entrance to the Ueno Zoo butts up next to it. On the weekend you will find food stalls here and we even found a couple while walking through on a weekday.

The park is full of flowers and very close to an outdoor shopping mall that's pretty huge. You can easily spend half a day in this area just wandering and sightseeing.

However, if you want to go to our favorite park in all of Tokyo, you need to visit Shinjuku Gyoen. This is actually a gigantic botanical garden. You'll have to pay an admission to get in but it's generally around $2.00 pending the exchange rate. It's totally worth it.

Inside, you'll find gigantic old growth trees. There are large ponds and flower gardens throughout. Sections of the park are set up in traditional Japanese, English and French garden settings.

Paved paths will take you around the majority of it, but there are also offshoot paths that will take you through more heavily wooded areas. It's easy to forget that you're in a city while you're here, but every now and then you'll catch a glimpse of the skyline.

On one end of the park there is also a greenhouse open to the public. Inside, you'll find plants from around the world along an easy to walk path that takes you along two levels of greenery.

I swear that picture above looks like a Pokemon character.

Anyway, you won't find any clubs or craziness in this park. It's truly just for people who appreciate nature and want to enjoy the peacefulness of it. There's even a tea house on site if you're looking for something else to do.

There are plenty of other parks I could mention. For instance, the large one outside the imperial palace has life-sized Bonzai trees, cut into fantastical shapes. Below you can see a man working on one.

Our favorites though tend to be those top three, with one exception from me.

One day, Lil and Karen had a reservation at a butler cafe near the Sunshine City Mall. I decided to wait for them in a small park nearby. I went to a Lawson's store and picked up a sandwich, some chips and a beer. Then I headed over and found a bench in the far corner of the park. From where I sat, I could see other people coming out to eat their lunches here. It was cool just being one of the locals. Then I started noticing the cats. They were everywhere. They were obviously part of the allure of the park because many people were feeding them or just petting them.

This fascinated me, partially because I'm highly allergic to cats yet love them. If I even pet one, my hand itches almost instantly, yet often I'll do it anyway and then run to a sink to wash up. It also grabbed me though because it was so obvious that they were just part of the scenery. I have no idea the name of the park, but we just call it the Cat Park. When Lil and Karen met me after their lunch, I insisted they come look. Lil walked up to this cat lounging on the ground and said hello. He didn't mind a bit.

So if you're headed back there for a vacation, keep the parks in mind when you start to feel sick of being in a big city. Just a 30 minute stop in the middle of a bunch of trees and flowers can be enough to reset your sense of adventure.

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 9 - The Brain Eaters (1958)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:00:00 +0000

This week’s film came with a warning up front. You see, the very first image on the screen was this logo:

For those who watch old sci-fi and horror films, American International Pictures (AIP) means one thing. Cheap. Founded by Samuel Z. Arkoff and James Nicholson, AIP specialized in low-budget movies aimed at grabbing the teen audiences who were suddenly spending money at drive-in’s and theaters. Generally, if you see the AIP logo, you know you won’t be watching the best that cinema has to offer.

This movie was definitely a bottom of the barrel experience. If I had to describe it in a sentence, I’d say it is a low-rent version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. A young couple finds what looks like a nose cone from a rocket sticking out of the ground. Scientists converge on it to figure out what it is but no matter what they try, they can’t break into it.

While they’re looking for answers as to what it is and where it came from, people start succumbing to these small fluke-like parasites that attach to the back of your neck and make you do their bidding. Their goal is to take over the world and “spread peace” by making everyone have a hive mind.

See? It’s just like Invasion of the Body Snatchers only there’s slugs instead of plant pods.

The problem here isn’t just the story though. The acting is horrible. The direction is poor. The soundtrack is crappy. Even the dialogue is awful. Unfortunately, it’s not so bad it’s good.

However, at one point a “scientist” says that if you cut a snake in two, the pieces will slither off their separate ways. I laughed out loud at that one.

What did the girls’ think?

The Old Movie Rubric - The Brain Eaters (1958)

1. Brains were involved: -0.5

2. Brains were eaten: -0.5

3. There is an expert in an obscure scientific field: +1

4. It has a legitimate plot: +0.5

5. It has an educational short: +1

6. It has decent acting: 0

7. It has sexist jokes: 0

8. It uses animals as props: 0

9. It uses daytime for nighttime filming: 0

10. There are very proper hats: +0.5

11. There is a female scientist: +0.5 (she was an assistant)

12. There is repeat footage: 0

13. There is a cutesy couple: 0 (they weren’t cutesy)

14. BONUS: someone refers to the scientists as “You science boys”: +1

Total Score: 3.5

That’s officially the lowest score of any film since we started keeping track.

Stay away from this one unless you’re a masochist. Next week, we'll check out an old one starring Lionel Atwill. Hope you're prepared for... Doctor X!

Exploring Japan Vol. 21 - SUMO!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 11:00:00 +0000

So you're probably asking yourself why it took so long for me to write about Sumo. To be honest, there are two reasons. First, it was something we did as part of a tour group the on our initial visit to Tokyo. We're not big on tours and this was one of only two that we took. While I'm glad we did it, it still felt like we were kind of sheltered and not really a part of the action and vibe.

Second (and maybe because of that sheltered feeling), the whole thing kind of came off as a one dimensional experience. Allow me to explain the whole concept though because I really feel like if I lived there, attended on my own and followed it for even one season, I'd be hooked.

Sumo is Japan's national sport. They take this very, very seriously. There are six tournaments per year, three of which take place in Tokyo. Each tournament lasts only 15 days but over that time, the newspapers and television are covered with stories about each day's results.

The sport started as part of a religious ritual and the matches were thought to be entertaining to the Shinto deities. As you watch a match, you'll still see components of this. The matches take place on a raised platform made of clay and covered with sand. A Shinto priest will start each match by chanting to purify the ring. Then each wrestler will do his own ritual, tossing salt to further purify it and get into the proper mindset. Eventually, they will get into position mere inches from each other. There is no whistle or anything to start. One will just suddenly make a move and in a few seconds the match is over.

The rules are simple. If you exit the ring or if any part of your body other than the soles of your feet touch the floor, you lose.

Wrestlers are split into hierarchies based on their performance. They can move up or down within those depending how well they do in each tournament with one exception. The winner of the tournament is crowned Yokozuna (Grand Champion). Once that happens, you're a Yokozuna for life. However, if your performance begins to slip, you are expected to retire.

Winning brings with it some fantastic rewards. Aside from fame, you also get prizes from different sponsors that include giant casks of sake, chesnuts, etc. You also win money and there's always the occasional sponsorship.

The matches themselves are fun to watch, but they end so quickly you need to make sure you don't blink. The real fun for us though was watching the people with the ringside seats. You may have realized from the picture below that there are no ropes to keep a wrestler from falling into the crowd. This happens quite a bit. In fact, if you sit close to the ring itself you're not allowed to bring food or drinks. Seeing 350 pound giants fall on a family of four can be relatively entertaining if you're in the right mindset.

When the day's matches are over, there's a closing ceremony where all the high ranked wrestlers perform a final ritual. Then everyone heads home.

All that said, if you've never attended then going for a day is worth doing. Matches begin early (8:30 a.m. most days) and go until after 6:00 p.m. The better wrestlers get the later matches so the stadium tends to fill up as the day goes on. Bring some yen so you can buy snacks and beer and allow a few hours to get the full effect. Also, we found that there was an English radio broadcast of the event, so bring a portable radio with headphones if you have one and you can hear the call in real time.

Next week, we'll explore some of Tokyo's public parks and hang out with some cats. Be sure to join me!

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol 8 - The Kindred (1987)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Two! Two in a row!

So last week, I wrote about the awesomeness that is I Drink Your Blood (1971). It was definitely a fun time but in a sleazy, exploitative way. This week, we dipped out toes into the 1980’s and checked out a nasty little flick called The Kindred (1987). I didn’t expect much but the poster (once again) was just awesome. From that alone, I was thinking that this probably had something to do with aliens.

Imagine my surprise when this turned out to be something entirely different and my favorite of all of the movies we’ve watched so far! Sure, it’s got some plot holes and yeah, it’s got issues with dialogue, etc. but despite all that, this movie is a ton of fun!

The Kindred follows a young research scientist who goes back to his childhood home to collect his mother’s notes and disassemble her laboratory. You see, researching runs in the family and in this case, his mother was working with a substance found in marine life called “hemocynan”. Apparently it’s very toxic but also has properties which seem to be able to offer some benefit to society (even though this is never fully explained).

What his mother has really done though is create a human, squid monster hybrid and boy is it pissed off! What makes this better is that there is another scientist who was also researching in the same field. He’s evil and has his own menagerie of mutants kept in a cellar.

Obviously, if you do the math (2 mad scientists + pissed off mutants + tentacles + unassuming research scientists + a bit of Lovecraftian horror) you end up with a real winner! The effects are solid and full of slimy, gross, tentacally goodness!

But wait! What do the girls give it?

The “Not-So-Old” Movie Rubric: The Kindred (1987)

Someone being related: +2

A baby in the movie: +1

A reptile in the movie: 0

Synthesizer musical score: 0

A legitimate plot: +1

Decent acting: +0.5

Clueless female character: 0

Story progresses: +1

Educational short: -2

Expert in a ridiculous field: +1

Sexist joke or comment: 0

Love story: 0

Music is not repetitive: -1

Shoulder pads/Flashdance fashion: +1

Neon: 0

Crimped Hair: 0

Is actually scary:  +0.5

Total: 5

Karen did say that she liked this one. It was just scary and crazy enough that it felt original to her. Lil was more bummed at the lack of 80’s crimped hair and neon, but did say it wasn’t horrible.

That sounds like an endorsement to me! You can check out the trailer for The Kindred here:

Exploring Japan Vol. 20 - Miyajima

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 11:00:00 +0000

This week we'll wrap up the part of our trip that took us south of Tokyo. When I lived in Iwakuni, there were two places easily accessible by train. The best was Hiroshima, with its modern ginza and professional baseball team. The other was no slouch though. It was the island of Itsukushima and the small town of Miyajima.

Funny enough, Miyajima technically doesn't exist anymore. It was annexed by the city of Hatsukaichi in 2005, however people still refer to it by the old name. It sits 20 minutes outside of Hiroshima by train, however that only gets you to the ferry station. A ten minute ferry ride puts you at the dock and immediately you're beset by roving deer.

At first, you'll think they're fantastic but if you sit back and watch them awhile, you'll see their mercenary tactics at work. They travel in packs of two or three and while one distracts people by acting cute, the others start eating anything they can get hold of. In this case, even Karen's shirt.

One of my favorite things about this trip was watching a woman get ambushed from behind by a deer who walked away with most of an ice cream cone. She had her attention on the one in front of her and before she knew it, the one in back of her had bitten the top off her cone.

The town of Miyajima is known for a few things beside aggressive deer. First, and most impressive, is their giant torii.

It sits in the water at high tide, but when the water moves out, you can walk right down to the base. In fact, you'll find locals digging for clams, crabs and other fresh seafood.

It's a truly amazing structure and once you get close to it, the sheer size of the trees the builders used will floor you.

The second awesome sight is the floating Buddhist temple. It doesn't really float, however when the tide is in, it sits directly over the water.

The third thing they're known for is not a sight at all. It's a taste. Miyajima is the place to get the best bean cakes in all of Japan (in my humble opinion). These are fresh sponge cakes that are filled with sweet red bean paste.

If you don't like red bean paste, don't worry. There are at least ten different flavors that range from chocolate and vanilla to banana and berry flavors. There are multiple stores along the route that all make these fresh and many have their own proprietary flavors so be sure to shop around. They are well worth your yen. You can even pick up special Kit Kat flavors that are specific to Miyajima.

If you follow the main path through town, you'll find yourself walking in a beautiful wooded area. It will take you over bridges and by Shinto shrines that are nestled back among the trees.

It makes for a gorgeous hike but if you're not in the mood, you can catch a bus up to the cable car at the end of the path.

For a small fee, you can take that up to a point on Mt. Misen where you'll get fabulous views of the inland sea and the small islands that dot it.

It's from this point you can also find the trail up to the temple that houses the eternal flame I wrote about in the second post of this series. If you're really ambitious, you can continue on from there and hike all the way to the top of the mountain.

The only thing you need to be aware of is that the ferry does stop running relatively early, so if you're not off the mountain on time, you'll be finding a place to stay on the island.

Karen and Lil had a mixed response to visiting Miyajima. While they liked the town and the deer, they didn't like hiking in the heat and humidity. The selfie above was taken to show me just how much they hated trying to get to the eternal fire temple. They turned back about a quarter mile from the temple itself and snapped this about ten minutes after they left me. They snapped another that included a hand gesture but I'm trying to keep this blog semi-PC.

Still, I can't help but recommend visiting the island AND making the hike. It's one of my favorite places in all of Japan and ranks a solid number two in my top three most beautiful and peaceful places to visit. Number one would be the mountain trail I wrote about in the Iwakuni post and number three would be Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.

Next week, we'll finally talk about sumo, because I feel obligated and a few people have asked about it.

See you then!

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 7 - I Drink Your Blood (1971)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 11:00:00 +0000

We are seven films into a list of movies that I have somehow managed to miss over my 50 years on this planet. We've seen some okay ones and some terrible ones, but I have to tell you that nothing prepared me for the absolute awesomeness of this one.

I Drink Your Blood (1971) is exploitation horror at its finest. We'll get to that in a moment. First, I have to tell you that Lilith sat this one out. To be perfectly frank, I know she's not a fan of gore so Karen and I watched it while she was out of the house. That said, the first scene alone was almost enough for us to wait for her to get back. There is nothing I'd love to hear more than a 16-year-old making snarky comments about a bunch of naked hippy devil worshipers reciting dialogue so pretentious that suppressing giggles was nigh impossible.

That said, I took the responsible adult route and Karen and I soldiered on alone.

So, what makes this movie so good? Let me count the ways!

The story involves a bunch of Satan worshipers who descend on a small town. First, they brutalize a local teen girl. When her grandfather goes to get revenge, they beat him up and force feed him acid. Now, here's where you expect some Billy Jack character to come in and kick ass, right?

Wrong! Instead, a twelve-year-old boy, the grandson of the man who got dosed, decides to take revenge. He kills a rabid dog and then extracts blood from the animal and puts it in the Satan worshipers' food.

They, of course, go insane and start killing each other and anyone else they come across. Body parts are lopped off, blood flies everywhere, organs fall out of wounds... it's just awesome! Soon the sickness begins to spread beyond the devil cult and into the people of the surrounding area.

Why is this "exploitation"? Well, this movie rode into theaters as the Manson murder trial had captured American imaginations. Nothing was scarier than hippies. Sure they'd smile to your face and talk about peace and love, but then they'd take those mind altering drugs and who knows what they'd do. Right? Seen through the eyes of the time, this movie is definitely frightening.

Now, the acting isn't the best. I'd say everyone is trying hard but only about half of them are really pulling it off. Lucky for us, those who do pull their acting weight include most of the devil worshipers, the boy, his grandfather and his sister.

Acting aside, there's one huge thing I have to complain about.

The soundtrack.

It is almost entirely made up of obnoxious, irritating noises. Karen described it as taking a recording of a battery operated toy ray gun, looping that on itself and cranking it higher and higher depending on the amount of tension they were trying to portray.

It's pretty wretched. Still, it's not worth skipping this one over. You could do a lot worse than spending an hour and a half watching a bunch of rabid hippies lay waste to a small town.

I highly recommend this one and consider it the first movie of this whole experiment that is a clear-cut winner! It's gross and low budget, but still... a winner. You can actually find the entire movie for free on YouTube:

Next week, we'll delve into something a bit more classy... not a lot more though. We have an image to keep around here.

Exploring Japan Vol. 19 - Hiroshima

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 11:00:00 +0000

As I mentioned last week, our first trip to Japan as a family involved a four day excursion down to my old stomping grounds in Iwakuni. Iwakuni itself is a small city and there’s not a lot there for tourists besides the Kikkou Park area. That’s one of the reasons we opted to stay in Hiroshima and branch out from there.

The other reason is that Hiroshima has, as you probably know, a remarkable and tragic history of its own. If you are going to travel to this part of Japan, you owe it to yourself to visit even though it will be a sobering experience in some respects. When I lived in Iwakuni, I would make the trip down to Hiroshima about twice a year. Once was always to attend a Hiroshima Carps game (especially when ex-Atlanta Brave Bob Horner would come to town with the Yakult Swallows) and again around Christmas time in order to shop at some of the stores in the local ginza.

The main draw for most visitors though is Peace Park. This is ground zero for the first atomic bomb detonated in a wartime engagement. The park itself houses The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It’s an amazing journey that takes you through pre-war Hiroshima, the dropping of the bomb, the aftermath and the eventual recovery. This is the kind of place that puts everything into a perspective that you may not have heard before, while at the same time goes to great pains to be fair in the telling. You’ll see artifacts that will haunt you for the rest of your life, but I still say it’s important that you go. It’s the kind of thing that puts an abstract idea like “atomic explosion” into a very real and tangible thing that you can easily wrap your mind around.

I did not take any photos inside the museum as it just didn’t feel right.

After the visit, we walked around the park on a fittingly gray and rainy day. There are markers showing exactly where ground zero was. There is the eternal flame which (if you recall from an earlier post) was lit from the fire that’s been burning for 1,200 years on Mt. Misen. There are memorials to the children who lost their lives here. These have large chains of paper cranes on display.

One of the most fascinating, and again sobering, things in Peace Park is the A-Bomb Dome.

It's the remains of what used to be a government building and is the only structure still left standing from the time of the atomic blast. At the time, it was one of the few buildings in the area with a metal framework and it sat very close to the center of the blast.

It was kept intact as a memorial to the 70,000 people who lost their lives in the detonation as well as the tens of thousands who died from radiation related illnesses after.

After touring the museum and spending a couple of hours wandering the area, we were ready to lighten things up a bit. Here’s where I decided to try to find my way back to the ginza I used to frequent thirty years ago. To my wife and daughter’s surprise, I led us right to it.

To be honest, I was kind of surprised myself. There wasn’t much to point out here, other than it’s a fine place to grab a quick meal. There is also a department store on one end that has a Tower Records at the top if you’re into that sort of thing. I am but I'm more inclined to hit up the second hand stores than a Tower.

The locals absolutely love their baseball team, and I used to love watching them also, so I was happy to see that Vans has struck a deal with the Hiroshima Carps to provide Carps branded shoes. Of course, even their largest size wouldn't fit my giant feet.

I also passed on buying the Carps branded katsu mix.

I just grabbed a hat instead.

For the next two days, we found ourselves coming back to the ginza each night to eat after our day excursions. We searched every nook and cranny of it for things to do, but to be honest, there wasn’t a lot except for people watching.

If you’re into that sort of thing, then head to the McDonald’s, get something small (to justify your seat) and go upstairs to the window. There you’ll get a view of everyone wandering the ginza and your daughter can start obsessing over strange Japanese boys who seem to be cosplaying.

Next week, I’ll wrap up the southern jaunt by showing you a little more of Miyajima.

See you then!

FEST!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 12:00:00 +0000

For those of you who don’t know me personally or are newcomers to the blog,
this will be the first time you’re hearing about the mysterious thing
called Fest. For those who have heard of it, bear with me while I recap
some things. Approximately 28 years ago, a group of friends in Boston
got together on a cold winter day to watch some movies. It wasn’t just
any get together though. Two members of the group, Mike Carvalho and
Lynn Mason were (and are) movie hounds. They love seeking out the old,
the strange, the foreign and sometimes the forgotten when it comes to
cinema and they curated a list of films to show that would stretch an
entire 24 hours.

I’m not sure of the size of the first crowd but I have heard at least five
people say they were there. By all accounts it was interesting, but didn’t
go exactly the way they wanted it to go. In fact, that would have been
the only time they held it if not for Lynn bugging the absolute shit out
of Mike two years later saying that they HAD to try it again. This time
they made some rule changes. The starting time was moved to early evening
on Friday. They scheduled breaks a little better and figured out ideal
running times for the movies they showed.

That was the beginning of the yearly tradition that is the 24 Hour Film
Fest. I’ve had the pleasure of attending nine of them and when I say
pleasure, that’s not me being sarcastic. I absolutely love “Fest”.

Last weekend, I attended number Fest 27. It was one of (if not the) best
I’ve attended. This year’s line up included an early talkie, an Indian
horror/fantasy film, a Japanese zombie film/comedy that was one of the
most creative things I’ve ever seen and nine more that I would recommend
to almost anyone. Since we tend to talk about movies on this blog a bit,
I thought I’d run down some of my favorites from this year’s lineup. You
could do a lot worse than to seek these out!

First up, the crowd favorite, was the Japanese produced One Cut For The
Dead. This one is going to be a bit hard to find due to a screwup by
Amazon who illegally listed it as a streaming title for a short period
before pulling it down. This brought up massive piracy issues and a true
authorized U.S. release is not currently in the works. However, you can
find a UK release and it’s well worth getting. The premise is a director
is tasked with shooting a livestream zombie film in one take. I don’t
want to explain things further because half the fun of this film is seeing
exactly what they’ve done. Let’s just say that the zombie parts are scary
and the comedy parts are laugh out loud funny.

Another favorite of mine was the 1930 production of Moby Dick starring
John Barrymore. Now, if you are an author or just a well read lover of the
classics, I feel you need to see this one. The writers and director had
no intention of making a true adaptation of Moby Dick. Instead, they made
a love story where Captain Ahab is a loveable drunk who falls in love with
a woman in port and does his best to clean up and woo her. Sure, there’s
a white whale (well, a black whale with a white patch on its back).
There’s also Ahab himself and Queequeg. Other than that though, there’s
not another reference from the source material that I could spot. It’s
well made for the time, but just hilarious to watch for the way they
butchered the novel. There isn't any YouTube link to this one. Sorry.

If you want to see a majestic, insanely cool fantasy story, then check
out Tumbaad. This is streaming on Amazon Prime and tells the story of a
cursed treasure in the heart of a castle in India and the young boy who
figures out the secret of how to get it. The film then follows him through
his life as he exploits the source of the treasure again and again with
semi-disastrous consequences. It’s got old witches, demons, adventure
and lots and lots of rain. I highly, highly recommend this one.

Speaking of witches and demons and foreign films, you should definitely
check out Livid. It’s a beautifully creepy French film that tells the
story of a young hospice nurse who is learning her new route. She finds
that a wealthy old woman on her deathbed is on her route, she and her
boyfriend decide to rip off the mansion. Obviously, things don’t go as
planned. It’s a fantastic film and will be one of the first that I watch
a second time.

The last one that I want to recommend was one I didn’t expect to love as
much as I do. It’s a comedy from the 1980’s called Nice Girls Don’t
Explode. It’s about a young girl who’s special fire starting powers seem
to come forward only when she’s excited. This becomes a problem as she’s
hit puberty and wants to start dating. There are some great laugh out
loud moments throughout and it’s a shame this didn’t get a bigger
following at the time.

The full lineup is below and to be honest, except for Rock and Roll
Nightmare which is fun to watch with a crowd just so you can make fun of
it, all of the rest I would recommend in a heartbeat.

Rock and Roll Nightmare

One Cut for the Dead

Moby Dick

Tumbaad

Deadly Eyes

Dark House

Tourist Trap

Would You Rather?

The Evil Within

Livide

Race With The Devil

Nice Girls Don't Explode

Fest is truly one of the highlights to my year and it’s because everyone
who attends is just so damn fun to watch movies with. Thanks again to
Mike and Lynn for putting this on every year and special thanks to Karen
Mike’s longsuffering wife) for allowing this insanity to go on. She
leaves for the weekend each year, but is sure to call us midway through to
loudly call us all “idiots” via speaker phone.

Next week, we’ll get back to the Forgotten Gems columns on Thursdays and
you can look forward to some book updates coming soon. I can promise you
now, 2019 is going to be a fun, fun year!

Exploring Japan Vol. 18 - Return to Iwakuni

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 12:00:00 +0000

For those of you reading this who are a little older, I have a question. Was there ever a place you lived that you feel helped form the person you became? If so, was it someplace far from home and family?

If you said yes to both of those questions, then you’ll probably appreciate this post. There is nowhere I’ve lived that changed me more as a human being than my three years spent in Iwakuni, Japan. I made friends there I still keep in touch with to this day. I also learned a lot of valuable lessons and made a lot of mistakes. It was a time that I will never forget but which the years have blurred to the point of romanticizing things a bit.

I’d always told my wife that if given the chance, I’d love to take her to Iwakuni just so she could see where I lived and what life is like there. That said, I never truly thought I’d ever get that chance, so imagine my surprise when we realized that we could make it happen. On our first trip to Japan as a family, we carved out five days for a jaunt via Shinkansen to the Hiroshima area.

Iwakuni sits about 45 minutes away right up against the inland sea and while we were only in Iwakuni itself for a single day, it was enough. As a family, when we think back on that first trip, every single one of us ranks that day as one of the best we had.

In an earlier post, I mentioned visiting the tea region of Japan. The day after that trip, we boarded the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. If you’ve never ridden on a bullet train, the best I can describe it is to say it’s like the world’s smoothest flight.

First, they are ALWAYS on time. In fact, it’s to the minute most days, so don’t dare be late or you will be left. The seats are comfortable and roomy. There is a service that comes through offering beverages and meals. You can get up and walk around whenever you feel like it and if you have Snapchat, you can take cool photos that use your location tracking on your phone to figure out how fast you’re going.

Yeah, that’s really freakin’ fast.

The only bad thing is that the further south you go, the more tunnels there are on this route so instead of seeing more of the countryside, many times you only see cement walls or just blackness. Still, it’s a pleasant ride overall and it’s easy to find yourself lulled to sleep.

Once in Hiroshima, we checked into our hotel and explored a bit. I’ll go into that and our day trip to Miyajima in a separate post. The third day there, we took the train down to Iwakuni. Now, when I lived there, it was courtesy of the U.S. Navy. I was allowed to live off base with my friend Dave Adsit (a Marine) and we got a taste of what life was really like living in Japan. I would have loved to have visited the base and then wandered outside the gates to find where I’d used to live, however we only had one day. With time being such a factor, I wanted the girls to see my favorite place to visit in Iwakuni: Kintai Bridge and Iwakuni Castle.

Kintai bridge is a footbridge that crosses the Nishiki River. It was originally built in 1673 and while parts of it have been washed away from time to time (the last one being 1950), it’s been rebuilt in its original fashion and is a true sight to behold.

Five arches rise and fall across a line of stone bases. They lead you from a city street into a beautiful park (Kikkou Park) where you can spend an entire day exploring.

We crossed over and wandered through the area where the diving birds are kept. These birds are used to catch fish and this area was known for this activity back in the days when the bridge was built.

From there, we took the cable car up to Iwakuni Castle. What sits atop the mountain now is a recreation. The original castle fell centuries ago by an official order in 1615.

The bridge used to lead to the main gate. The castle recreation houses a museum that shows off artifacts that have been uncovered in the area. You’ll find samurai swords, armor and even bits of the roof from the original castle. If you go up to the top level, you’ll find telescopes and it was through one of these I was able to see the barracks I used to live in when I first moved to Iwakuni.

I was also able to see the television/radio station I used to work at while I lived there.

I need to give a special shout out to my wife for helping me manipulate the smartphone camera in the telescope lens in order to capture those pictures.

However, the real fun is in wandering the paths around the castle. On the day we were there, it was windy and you could hear music in the thousands of leaves rustling around you.

I took the girls to see the old well (which was one of my favorite places to see) and we wandered a little way down the paved mountain path. It was here that I saw something I didn’t expect to find.

Years ago, I used to ride my bike to Kintai Bridge and then hike a steep path through the woods all the way up the mountain to the castle. Every map I’d seen recently only showed a wide paved path that one could walk(or drive) up, but there was no sign of the trail I used to take.

Yet here, right off that paved path, was an obvious trail. There was no sign marking it as the one down to the bottom, but I knew it was the same one.

I bid the girls goodbye and told them I’d meet them at the bottom. They headed back to the cable car and I started down one of the steepest paths I’ve climbed in years. However, I was completely alone. There wasn’t any sound around me but the wind in the trees and my own footsteps.

Only once did I see any wildlife as a snake crossed the path in front of me. I was happy for that rather than catching one hanging from a branch like in this helpful sign tacked to a tree halfway down.

By the time I got to the bottom, I felt more peaceful than I’ve felt in ages.

The last part of the path leveled out and led through this beautiful tunnel of green before opening up at the entrance to a Shinto Temple.

I quickly paid my respects and then met the girls in the park. They’d discovered the wading pool and we all sat with our feet in the water and watched the local kids play around us.

It was a magical day and one I’d love to repeat at some point. For now, I’ll just feel lucky that I got the chance to do it again this time.

If you find yourself in the Hiroshima area, take a day to visit Iwakuni. Kikkou Park is a treasure and especially so during cherry blossom season.

Next week, we’ll talk a bit more about Hiroshima and how sometimes, my fifty-year-old memory is still sharp as a tack.

See you then!

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 6 - It's Alive! (1974)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 12:00:00 +0000

I know what you're thinking.

Cary, how could you have possibly missed seeing It's Alive!? It's got one of the most iconic posters of the 1970's and was talked about on every schoolyard for months after its release!

Let me tell you a story of a young man obsessed with horror movies who was only allowed to see them when they came on TV. I was only six when the movie came out but by the time I was 10, it was playing as part of the second half of a Drive-In Double Feature in Okeechobee, FL.

That movie poster haunted my dreams and when my friends and their older siblings began telling me about how gruesome and horrible it was, I couldn't wait to see it.

Except, I kind of could. You see, after I reached the age where I could have gone to see it on my own (or rented it), I'd heard from others that it kind of sucked. I kept it in the back of my mind as something I should eventually check out, but didn't really pursue it.

Until now... and I have to say that once again my impression of the film differs wildly from the girls'.

A quick synopsis:

A couple go to the hospital to have their baby. Upon being born, it's discovered to be a horrible mutation that is already able to crawl, climb and kill. The family is disgraced and local law enforcement has to track down the child and kill it to ensure public safety.

Here's the girl's take:

The "Not So Old" Film Rubric: It's Alive (1974)

Something comes alive: +0.5
Legitimate Plot: +1
Clueless Female Character: 0
Decent Acting: +1
Dumb joke at the expense of the foreign or elderly: 0
The story progresses: +0.5
Educational short: -2
Expert in some ridiculous field: 0
Sexist joke/comment: +1
Music is not repetitive: -1
Emperor, princess or ancient god present: 0
Love story: 0
70's hair (giant hair): +1
Bike riding or picnicking: 0
Bell bottoms and/or platform shoes: +1
"Trippy" used in dialogue or in the way the film is shot: +1
Overly dated: +2

Total Score: 6

Some takeaways from the girls:

"The first half hour of this was very promising!" - Karen

"The 70's wallpaper and clothes were awesome." - Lilith

"I was very disappointed that there was no scientist explaining how all this happened though." - Karen

Karen also said that she absolutely hated the music but her hate was immediately replaced the following day because she and I watched another 70's flick with even worse music. That'll be coming next week.

Personally, I like the idea of this one but the execution is beyond horrible. Karen's right, the first 30 minutes are fun, all the way up to the birth scene. After that, there are a ton of plot points either skipped over or mildly mentioned in passing. The pacing starts to drag in the middle and the whole movie felt like it was a half-hour too long. My biggest gripe though is that there's never a clear shot of the creature and this is a travesty. Stills from the film show that Rick Baker's design is fantastic.

See! That's one scary looking baby! I can only guess that the budget dictated that things be kept mysterious. Anyway, I sort of, kind of, recommend this one because it is 100% pure exploitative schlock and that's always fun on some level.

Next week, we'll check out another classic from the 1970's (again, with terrible music). This one involves hippies and rabies!

See you then!

The Official Soundrack to The Wash!

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 25 Feb 2019 12:00:00 +0000

If you've read the title of this post and are a bit confused, I completely understand. Normally, a soundtrack accompanies a film. Allow me to explain.

Eric San Juan is a musician, author and all around great guy who I've known for a while. As an author, he's written books about Hitchcock and Kurosawa, broken down television series like Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead and has even published graphic novel collections.

As a musician, he records under a number of names pending the project type. Whether it's the chaotic guitar noisescapes of his M2 moniker, the more conventional XSweet or the laid back sounds of Tape Theory, Eric's music is never predictable and never boring.  His albums have accompanied me on dive boats, airplanes and even to other countries.

So imagine my surprise when he contacted me out of the blue to tell me that he'd recorded a soundtrack to my novel The Wash!

I was floored! Having an artist who you admire contact you and tell you that they were inspired by something you wrote is an amazing feeling. Add to that, when he shared the early mixes of the tracks with me I found that I really liked them. They were mysterious and unsettling in the best of ways and I agreed that they would be perfect accompaniment to a film version of The Wash (at least as I see it in my head).

The album is now up for download and it's completely FREE! Eric explains the process behind the album in his post here. You can also find the link there to download it.

For those of you who want more, I have a special deal for you. Eric was kind enough to give me access to a bunch of outtakes and extra tracks from this session. If you'd like them, then all you have to do is review The Wash on Amazon.

LINK TO THE WASH ON AMAZON

Simply go to the link above and leave a review. Send me an e-mail at w.cary.christopher@gmail.com along with a link to your review. I'll reply to you with a link to the outtakes.

I really hope you enjoy Soundtracks for Horror Moves: Music Inspired by The Wash. It's been playing on my iPod pretty regularly since he posted it.  I hope it gets its fingers way up under your skin and makes you anxious and so creeped out you can't sleep.

As always, I have your best interests at heart.

Forgotten Horror Gems Vol. 5 - The Cult of the Cobra (1955)

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 12:00:00 +0000

This week's movie review is definitely something different. Let me start by talking about the movie itself though.

Cult of the Cobra (1955) tells the story of a group of G.I.'s on their last day of liberty before becoming civilians again. They're somewhere in Asia, spending the day like tourists when they approach a man who is playing the flute for a cobra. Soon, he's agreed to take them to see a mysterious ceremony where a woman will turn into a snake, but they have to go undercover and can't take any pictures.

You see where this is going, right? Anyway, mayhem ensues and the G.I.'s make it back to base safely, but not before being cursed. The high priest tells them each will die at the hands of the snake goddess.

Once back in the States, they start falling victim, one by one.

Now, the girls did something different this time so I have to run a disclaimer of sorts. You see, many of the films we've been watching are very old. Part of the fun of watching these is seeing all the places where society has changed.

For instance, in one of our all-time favorite family movies, Tarantula, there are multiple comments made about the fact that one of our heroes, Steve, is a woman in a man's world. The lines come off as sexist today, but the way that we choose to look at them is to laugh at the fact they're being made at all. the men making them look like idiots when you see them through today's eyes.

"There you go! Give women the vote and you end up with lady scientists!"

A line like that may set some people on edge, but it makes us laugh out of the sheer absurdity of hearing it. The movie is over sixty years old and times were different. I'm not going to hate the movie because it's got a piece of dialogue that wouldn't pass today's muster.

Here's a better example. Let's say the president is making a speech about puppies and all of a sudden, he goes off on a rant about porn stars and confidentiality agreements. I'm not going to suddenly hate puppies just because part of a speech about them went off the rails.

So when viewing these films, we are usually on the lookout for cultural faux pas and sometimes have been known to keep a tally. Lately, since we've seen so many films from the 1930's - 1960's, it's kind of become a game for us, especially when the movie isn't that good in the end.

Enter the girls' new calculator:

The Old Movie Rubric - Cult of the Cobra

1. Yes it had a cult: +1

2. No, it did not use live animals as props: 0

3. Yes, it had a cobra although fake, still... it had more than one so bonus points: +2

4. It had a legitimate plot: +2

5. It had a helpless token female character: +1

6. It did not have an actual native playing a native character: 0

7. It had decent acting: +1

8. It did not have a dumb joke at the expense of the foreign or elderly: 0

9. The story actually progressed: +1

10. It did not have an educational short in the middle: -2

11. It did not have an expert in some ridiculous field: 0

12. It did not have any sexist jokes: 0

13. The music was not repetitive: +1

14. It did have a strange dance sequence: +2

15. It did not feature an emperor, princess or God: 0

16. It featured obviously white people playing natives: +2

17. It had a love story: +1

Final Grade: 12

Now, you may say to yourself, "Those ratings seem very arbitrary."

You would be right.

You may also ask yourself, "What is the range of the scale?"

I asked them and they said, "We don't know. It's just a 12."

They also informed me that the criteria could change at any time and therefore this rating system is going to be very subjective and useless to most readers. However, if you feel like checking out The Cult of the Cobra (1955), rest comfortably in the knowledge that it is a 12.

Personally, I didn't much care for it. The effects were BEYOND cheap with only one half-assed transformation at the end. The acting was okay, the plot started out promising but went bad fast and... well... I obviously was looking for more than this had to offer on almost every level.

Your mileage may vary though. After all... it's a 12.

You can find the full movie on YouTube right here if you are so inclined.

See you next week!

Exploring Japan Vol. 17 - Ghibli Films and The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Cary) — Mon, 18 Feb 2019 12:00:00 +0000

This week I feel it's time we talk about a subject that's long overdue when discussing Japan. That would be Studio Ghibli. Now if you don't know that this is, you're really missing out. Studio Ghibli is to Japan what classic Disney animation was to American cinema in the 1930's and 40's. It's made its reputation by turning out impeccably well plotted and animated stories that capture the imaginations of kids and adults alike.

Studio Ghibli films don't operate like American animated films that try to relate to all ages. You won't find "adult jokes" hidden in with kiddie fare. Instead, Ghibli films pull adults into them on their own terms. Even though they are animated, some deal with incredibly mature themes while others are playful and child-like.

A great example of a Ghibli movie that aims higher than any Disney animated film is Grave of the Fireflies, a story about two young kids trying to survive on their own in the final days of WWII. It's absolutely heart-wrenching and pulls zero punches. Disney wouldn't dare tackle a subject like that in the way Studio Ghibli does.

However, some of the most iconic Ghibli films are fun. They include My Neighbor Totoro, about a young girl whose family moves to a rural area where forest spirits are actually real, Princess Mononoke, a fantasy/adventure set in feudal Japan that rivals the best American and British fantasy and Spirited Away, about a girl thrust into the spirit world who must find a way to save her parents from spending eternity as pigs and get back to reality. You'll find toys based on these three movies in almost every single toy store you go to. The films are so popular in Japan that there are even Studio Ghibli stores (Donguri) in Tokyo malls and the very famous (and very popular) Studio Ghibli museum in Tokyo is sold out months in advance.

We decided that instead of trying to go to the museum, it would be more fun to visit places that inspired settings in the movies themselves. This made it much more of an adventure.

First up, while walking to a train station after taking a boat ride, we realized we were right next to the famed Ghibli Clock. This sits on the outside of Nittele Tower, the home of Nippon Television. It goes into motion about 4 times a day. The entire clock is animated and it tells a story of sorts as it begins to malfunction and various parts and pieces must come to life in order to get things set straight again. Here's a YouTube link to show you how it looks, but I have to say this pales in comparison to seeing it in person.

Now, while there are many sites you can visit that will tell you to visit this place or that place to see a single location that inspired a Ghibli scene, I'm going to focus on one location that you should definitely check out if you're looking to see what inspired the animators. And right now, I want to call out our friends Dan and Maria Borses for recommending this.

I'm talking about the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum. This is a collection of actual houses and other buildings that were physically moved from their original locations and brought here to be opened to the public. They give you a glimpse of how people lived through different eras of Japan's history. Word has it that the Ghibli animators used this as inspiration for a number of films and I have to say after visiting, I totally see it.

For instance, in the movie My Neighbor Totoro, the family moves into an older house in a heavily wooded area. Soon, the youngest girl begins seeing woodland spirits and in her time of need, they come to her aid. One of the most iconic images is that of the Cat Bus pictured at the top of this post.

At the Open Air Museum you'll find this trolley car that's just a some legs and a smile away from being the cat bus. You'll also find houses from the era that look suspiciously like the ones in the movie.

In the film Princess Mononoke, there is a battle for the very spirit of the forest raging across the land. Visiting the open air museum, you can enter an Edo-era house, complete with cooking fire, thatched roof and a sleeping area for the guards. It's straight out of the Ghibli film or should I say it's the other way around.

And then there's Spirited Away. There are so many buildings here that were obvious inspirations for that movie that it's hard to capture them all. The film is about a girl who accidentally finds herself in the spirit world and is put to work in a bath house for the monsters who populate it.

This bath house at the Open Air Museum was an obvious inspiration. Check out these amazing murals on the walls. The bath house itself was divided between male and female and the murals depict scenes that would appeal to each.

Also in Spirited Away, our protagonist works with a strange half-man/half-something to create special baths for the monsters. His workshop is filled, wall to wall, with drawers of ingredients. They look exactly like this:

This is a stationery shop at the Open Air Museum. There is no doubt it was the inspiration for that room.

As you walk through the grounds, you'll find plenty of other examples. Every building on this street alone shows buildings you can spot in films like Grave of the Fireflies, Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away.

So before you go on your trip, make sure to bone up on your Ghibli movies and then take the train ride out to see the Open Air Museum. It's definitely worth your time.