A music video was made to help promote Ed Wood, back in 1994 when it came out. The music was written by the great film composer Howard Shore (notDanny Elfman). Appearing in the video is Tim Burton's ex, Lisa Marie, doing what she does best (I could watch her do that hair flipping thing all day).
"Explanation: Catching sight of your reflection in a store window or shiny hubcap can be entertaining and occasionally even inspire a thoughtful moment. So consider this reflective view from 300 kilometers above planet Earth. The picture is actually a self-portrait taken by astronaut Michael Fossum on July 8 during a space walk or extravehicular activity while the Discovery orbiter was docked with the International Space Station. Turning his camera to snap a picture of his own helmet visor, he also recorded the reflection of his fellow mission specialist, Piers Sellers, near picture center and one of the space station's gold-tinted solar power arrays arcing across the top. Of course, the horizon of our fair planet lies in background."
If you've ever scuba dived, you know that feeling of complete immersion and escape it can provide. Those space walks must be like that to the nth degree.
Explanation from the July print edition of Buzz Texas magazine:
"Burning House, a site-specific artwork/installation by SFA alums Clint Alexander and Emily Sloan Alexander, is located on the east side of Hwy. 59 about 40 miles south of Lufkin, between Seven Oaks and Legget. It is a permanent installation. The pair of artists added flames, made of canvas wrapped around fencing and then painted, to the 19th century shotgun house to create 'contemporary folk art, examining the socio-economic beginnings of East Texas and creating a new life of such relics through the creation brought through pseudo-destruction. It is also a form of activism, bringin art into under-represented areas,' Sloan Alexander said."
March 2007 UPDATE: On the day I went, I had to climb over a gate to get close to Burning House. But I felt okay about it, because this was something its creators wanted people to see. I've driven past it now many times (now that I know it's there), and it looks as if it is a lot more visitor friendly. I think there's a comment box, and it may be easier to get in and out of the gate.
January 2008 UPDATE: Dismantled. The house has new boards on the exterior. The windows may have been boarded up. I think the flames are part of a pile of wood just to the left of the house.
My source material for this, my previous one, and at least one more post, comes from a videotape containing a typical Monday evening TV viewing on NBC, circa December 1985. You can see from the screencaps and YouTube video that the cable reception wasn't perfect, and there are "ghost images." It's funny, but I don't remember it ever bothering me. We were most likely happy to get cable in our area (Galveston, Texas), period. But I apologize for the quality.
Ah, the "good old days" (for the purposes of this post, the 1980s), when the average person hadn't yet heard about stuff like trans fats, and Eric Schlosser's excellent, eye-opening expose of the fast food and meat packing industry, Fast Food Nation, had yet to be published. No one had yet seen the documentary Super Size Me. There were calorie counters and fitness enthusiasts, but most people didn't realize, or care to accept the facts about, the physiologically harmful effects of fast food.
Today, Wendy's has their Frescata Sandwiches, which are very tasty, and after eating one, you don't feel the same way as you would after eating a burger and fries (i.e., bloated, lethargic, heart pounding due to all the sugar, etc.). I'm sure the Frescata is also laden with calories (especially if you order a combo with fries and a drink), but it seems like an effort is being made by Wendy's to serve "healthier" food. Back in 1985, Wendy's was all about the gluttony and piling on the calories:
Let's take a closer look at that, shall we?
First of all, what the heck is happening here?:
That little boy is looking deep into the eyes of madness.
If they'd actually exchanged bitten off pieces of hot dog from open mouth to open mouth, using only their lips and tongues, that wouldn't have been any less disturbing. It's like an ice breaking activity at a Super Adventure Club meeting.
On to the truly nauseating aspects:
I am not a vegetarian, and despite the urban legends about the ingredients of hot dogs, I do eat them. But that one doesn't look very appetizing. First of all, was it even possible to fit it into your mouth without most of the fixings falling into your lap or on your shirt? I doubt many people attempted to consume one while they were driving. The real clincher for me though (in terms of revulsion), are the beans. I can't imagine putting that into my body. Looking at the picture gives me heartburn.
That just makes me feel sort of inadequate and insecure.
There is nothing quite like a little hot dog with your relish and onion. Wendy's must have had a full-time medical staff on hand to deal with all the cardiac arrests. Based on the display models used in this commercial, I bet there's a hot dog under all that.
This brings to mind an image forever burned into my psyche:
But Wendy's can't be blamed for that, unlike this:
Yuck. Just, yuck. No thanks. If I'm remembering correctly, Wendy's used to have a vat of that stuff (chili?) sitting out all day, under those sneeze guards, next to the salad bar. That obviously brings to mind: Of course, some people like their Wendy's chili with a little extra meat. Bon appétit
The NBC Monday Night At the Movies on December 2, 1985, was described in the network promos as being "an unforgettable three-hour world movie premiere." The world! The movie was John & Yoko: A Love Story. I wasn't sure whether or not I'd be able to watch it (I was a freshman in college, living in a tiny dorm room with one TV, which wasn't mine), and I had to see it, so my parents taped it for me. I don't think they watched it while it was being taped, and I'm fairly sure my dad had absolutely no interest in watching it. A good indication of that being he labeled the tape "John & Oko":
That still makes me laugh.
I really liked the movie, and it sort of formed my perception of Lennon and the Beatles for several years. The screenwriters did a pretty good job of depicting the breakup of the Beatles. The best I've seen in any movie, anyway (other than their own Let It Be). The guy who played Lennon is really good, and believable. He didn't actually play the guitar, but he did a good job of faking it (sort of like Stuart Sutcliffe). The woman who played Oko (would that be Oko Yono?) was also good. She is/was much prettier than the actual Oko was, ever, and is much more likeable (as far as Yoko's depiction in the screenplay), as well. I guess the makers of the film were afraid to piss Oko off. You wouldn't want Oko Yono to sic her stable of attorneys upon you, either.
Here is the promo that ran right after the NBC Monday Night At the Movies animation:
And why not, here's the NBC Monday Night At the Movies opening animation:
But of course, there are two things very wrong with that: first, it wasn't called "John & Yoko: The Complete Story," and secondly, why would you want a poster of two unknown actors, pretending to be John Lennon and Yoko Ono posing for a picture that would eventually appear on their Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (small picture of the cover, so NSFW?) album cover?? I wouldn't even want a poster of the real thing. Shiver.
Thanks to an anonymous commenter for notifying me of the passing of Frank Sinatra's longtime pianist, Bill Miller. He died on July 11. He was 91, and still playing gigs with Frank Sinatra, Jr., up until the week he died. Miller was born in the same month and year as Sinatra, February 1915. He began working with the crooner in 1952, during Sinatra's last days with Columbia Records. The singer nicknamed him "Suntan Charley" due to his overall pallor and inclination to stay indoors, as opposed to Frank, who was a diehard sunworshiper (for one thing, he didn't have to wear much, if any, makeup when on TV or in movies). If you go to SinatraFamily.com, you'll hear the song he is probably best known for having played with Sinatra.
There aren't too many actors today who are as willing to experiment and take risks with their selection of film roles as Johnny Depp has been. I love all of his Tim Burton collaborations and his performance in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. One of his very best quirky roles is that of Plan 9 from Outer Space director Ed Wood, in the film of the same name. 
A music video was made to help promote Ed Wood, back in 1994 when it came out. The music was written by the great film composer Howard Shore (not Danny Elfman). Appearing in the video is Tim Burton's ex, Lisa Marie, doing what she does best (I could watch her do that hair flipping thing all day).
