The Horror Of...Christmastime, The Hogfather, All In One Post

Terry Pratchett's Discworld is a beloved world for many fans of fantasy and comedy. Pratchett has produced an imaginative reality that plays on literature, folklore, history, and social commentary.

Did I mention the great A'Tuin?

The Discworld is a wonderfully impossible place, where the nonsensical is keeping old disc on the old turtles back.

And the Hogfather takes us to the winter time, and a special holiday at the center of the lives of many of the world's inhabitants. While some are celebrating, others are plotting the end of the season, and the forces that keep it alive.

The Wizards. The Assassins. Death. All are pushed into motion. But it may take some people from the sidelines to set things

So here are all the parts of the review in one spot.

________


Part 1

A start to the tale. An intro to the world. Assassins called to duty. The tooth fairy must die.

Those are the Hogfather's hogs, or Gozer's coming to town.

Part 2

The Hogfather falters. Death takes a break, and a second job. And things get more and more Dicoworldy.

"What do you mean this is my only scene!"

Part 3

Susan enters the story. Susan doesn't want to get involved. ...Susan gets involved.

"Really, grandfather? Cosplaying?"

Part 4

Susan gets a clue. Susan goes to war. The Hogfather dies. Long live the Hogfather. And more.

Yeah, You know all you've done? Piss. Susan. Off.

The Horror Of...Christmastime, Gremlins (1984)

As we stay in this holiday season, let's stay with so of this seasons classics of horror. And as I noted with A Christmas Carol, 1984 was a year with a number of Christmas based horror. Unfortunately I will have to leave a favorite of mine, Night of the Comet, for another day. But we have time for a more well known film, and a classic for many.

Gremlins

Let's hit it!

The Horror Of...Christmastime, A Christmas Carol (1984)

Christmas time is one that has been rich with horror movies for years now, But how can I not be tempted to go back to a classic tale of Christmas? A tale of a dislikeable lead who is given a comeuppance by supernatural forces. A story of a haunting. A story that addresses the real life horrors within an economy and society.

"A Christmas Carol." Dicken's tale is so well trodden over the last century, we've gotten so used to the story that maybe we forget...

...This be a ghost story.

I've already taken a look at some of the more humorous takes on this old story. And those are fun as introductions or a bit of variation. But let's look at one that is more of a sincere take on Scrooge and his London.

1984 offered us a number of Christmas based horror (including Gremlins and Night of the Comet). Among those films was A Christmas Carol.

It was made for TV and shown on CBS. Though it also got a theatrical release in the United Kingdom.

It stars George C. Scott in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

"Dickens...You magnificent bastard...I read your book!"

Scheduling in a time of stress and study.

Hey...

Between dealing with classes to train for a new job and illness, late October and most of November proved to be a bit much. Time and energy were not on my side.

And now in December, the final bits of class and training are just overwhelming me. Stress! (Plus they are giving me another job. (That means more duties and responsibility, but not really more power.) So much more stress! And less time.

So for the moment I find my posting, which has been meager will not be up to proper form..yet. I hope around Christmas and New Years I'll have more time to relax and write. And once work starts and the patterns get going, I can better work in writing.

It's annoying, as I have plenty I'd like to write about, but I just can't have it on the plate just right now.

Will write as soon as it is possible. The best this holiday madness.

meow

Trailers In Short - The Tunes and Toons Edition

It's the time of year when we need some childlike fun, and some merry songs to tide us through blustery cold days.

Time for some fun from LEGO's take on the heroes of the DC Universe.Time for the five armies to meet. Time for Snoopy to...do whatever he does, And it's time for some song and dance with a musical witch. And, Galavant, again.


LEGO Justice League Vs Bizarro League

Ah. Another LEGO film. I have so far found the DC animated LEGO films to be quite fun. I like their take on the pantheon of heroes. The humor,animation, and characters feel like they all work together. (Honestly, the Marvel ones haven't worked as well for me. They just feel too goofy.)

But this time out we get a turn with Bizarro. And Bizarro has decided to create some friends. So that means, after so many, years, we get a look at Bizarro's take on the Justice League again.

I don't think I've seen any of them since the days of the Super Friends. I guess they've brought them back in some forms at times.

Though the logic of the Bizarro's is tricky. Do everything opposite. It's hard not to do without being very silly. They've turned more to be more tragic to me in recent years. Bizarro ends up being a strange confused unwanted outsider.

But that's why it's more fun to use the concept with LEGO, where everything can be tongue in cheek!

But I don't think we've had a Bizarro World for awhile. It's supposed to be a square duplication of Earth. Sometimes it seemed it had some variety of people. But often it was a lot of Superman duplicates (Hence why you often Bizarro with a "No. 1" medallion around his neck. He's the original and worst.)

But then you had the team.

Ah.

So we get a tale of them being created from LEGO, and how they end up helping the Justice League against Darkseid. We get to see the value of a Bizarro.

It sounds like fun.

And how can I now resist adding the DC Nation short with Bizarro?

Friday the 13th on Thursday the 13th - Episode 11 - Scarecrow

With Hellowe'en passed, and cursed comics tossed out, it's time for a new month and a new 13th.

This time it's something we get to go to a proper scary place...Rural Canada! Oooo!

Well it's scary if your scared of not having cellphone reception...Is that still an issue out there? Probably not going to be as friendly as in Little Mosque On The Prairie.

So let's get into Friday the 13th the Series once again...

,,,and the "Scarecrow".

And the title says it all. The team are out this time in search of a cursed scarecrow,

"Yeah, I give the Scarecrow nightmares."

Oh, man. What is the curse. Let's cross our fingers and hope it goes around killing people.It'll be just like the Wizard of Oz...that is the right movie?

The Flash - Episode 4 - Going Rogue - "How can something so cold be so hot?" *UPDATED*

We move on in this episode from less memorable foes to the main stage of Flash villainy. It's time for some Snart.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas advertising.

Halloween has past, and we all know what that means. It's Christmas time, sorry American Thanksgiving. Sure, the stores were already playing Christmas music two weeks back.

But it's almost time for ads to focus on Christmas. And by focusing on Christmas I mean focusing on buying things we don't need. But I guess that's most ads. It's just now there's more red ribbons, snow, and excess sentimentality.


Cracked.com looked at some of the more ridiculous ads.

The 4 Most Insulting TV Ads You See Every Christmas -- powered by Cracked.com

More Bats!

Bats!

Sure, bringing this up gives me excuse to point to my post on how interesting and misunderstood bats are. Or, the other post that points to further facts on bats.

But that's not why we're here.

Now enjoy some of the work from the people (including Emily Graslie of The Brain Scoop) the Field Museum of Chicago. The team headed out to Kenya to meet with local researchers to see the regional bat population.

Part 1

Part 2

Some Sinister Information

Why left-handedness. And not just why they're all so freaking awesome!

Aw yeah!

Return of the Space Oddity

To lighten the color of my distemper, a little music.

I guess the Bowie legal team decided to play nice with those that tread beyond our Earth. Chris Hadfield's version of Space Oddity is back for people to enjoy.

So enjoy it!

Getting powered up to vote, with information.

It's almost election day, and there's still time to vote. There's also still time to learn about what you can vote on.

To start some research you can head over to Ballotpedia. At this site you can go to the Sample Ballot page to pull up the ballot that will be used in your Zip Code area.

Then you can review what will be on the ballot tomorrow. Governor. State Rep. Secretary of State. Etc.

You will also see the Amendments, Measures, and the alphabet of other issues you may be asked about. It offers added information on the two sides of each issue, and who is supporting it.

I won't guarantee it will resolve your issues. Sometimes the sides aren't as helpful as you'd like. I have one measure about expanding the number of doctors you can go to on insurance. I am torn on the pros and cons of the matter And secondary analysis of the measure is hard to find.

But for most issues the information on this site can at least help you muddle through the legal language that sometimes gets used.


The listings of candidates is also nice, as it allows you to try and figure out who the candidates really are. Often you can go into the polls and have no idea who is who, and what the positions actually do. Take some time to google them and see.


But one area that still vexes me is the fact I keep getting asked to vote for judges. What? Why? The only time you hear about a judge is if they get caught committing a crime, or make a controversial ruling. And even then, do you really remember them?

If you'd to have judges to vote on, I'd like to suggest Judgepedia (Yes, it exists.) You can at least see the candidates history on the bench to some extent. Also you can see if there are any notable cases. Also if they've served as a public defender or prosecutor. Also, in some cases, you can see if they've been involved with causes, like helping victims of certain crimes, or making changes to the system.

The site also, at least for my state, has ratings for judges as to how conservative they are, compared to the rest of the sitting judges.

Voting on judges seems silly, but you can at least, if you want to vote on them, make a semi-informed choice. (And I'd add, in Iowa after the State Supreme Court sided with the rights of gay people, conservatives were happy to go out and try to vote some of those justices out. If you have some honest judges on the bench that are being harried, why not help them?)


I hope you can take the time to vote this week. Every vote does count. Many offices and measures are close. Votes will matter.

Citizens wielding the mighty hammer of the vote. *UPDATED*

In case you haven't gotten the hint from all the political ads, it's almost an election day.

In our country money has a lot of sway. Money can get access. Money can take hold of the airwaves at this time of year.

But, in the end, those people chasing donations are doing so for one reason. To convince you to vote for them. OR, convince you to not bother, to give up.

Lewis Black has been supporting efforts to get people out to vote, and to fight vote suppression.

Halloween Fun With Gotham

The actors on Gotham have had some costume fun this Halloween.


Ben McKenzie, who plays James Gordon.

He went as Commissioner James Gordon.


Sean Pertwee, who plays Alfred Pennyworth. (And he's the son of Jon Pertwee, who played the 3rd Doctor.)

He dressed up as the 3rd Doctor, taking a selfie.


And some bonus fun...

Friday the 13th on Halloween the Halloween! - Episode 5 - Hellowe'en

We've done cursed comics earlier this month but now it's time for...CURSED HALLOWEEN!

Or rather, a magic amulet...But it's really about Halloween.

So  let's get into Friday the 13th the Series, and...

"Hellowe'en"

It's Halloween time in the world of Friday the 13th, Ryan has had a brilliant idea.

Throw a party at the shop. Invite all the neighborhood locals, and show them that the shop is perfectly safe and normal.

Reintroduction to Penny Dreadful

Tonight Showtime is reshowing the first two episodes of Season 1 of Penny Dreadful. You can also get them easily off the Penny Dreadful iTunes account at the moment.

(Yes, owning the Blu Ray, and having a previous copy, I did grab the 2 episodes again.)

Next month I'll be resuming my reviews of Penny Dreadful. So let's look back to the first two reviews of the series.

Do you believe there is a Demimonde?


Episode 1 - "Night Work"

Episode 2 - "Seance"

Constantine - Episode 1 - Non Est Asylum - "To Edit a Pilot."

Finally we get to see the results of being John Constantine and Hellblazer to TV. I did touch a bit on what the show will be bringing from the comic, and adding, previously.

Based on what I've heard about the pilot, and know about the changes the show has gone through, it seems the episode is largely intact from the first finished product. But let's address this stuff as we look at this episode.

But, yes, the Dr. Fate reference is still intact. Yeah!

The episode opens with Constantine checked into Ravenscar Hospital. Constantine is locked up, by choice.

It's motto: Hey, we're not Arkham.

Getting to know Halloween.

Halloween, and our holiday traditions can become rote. It's nice to sometimes look back at origins and interesting aspects of history.

Let's learn about Halloween.


The Origins of Halloween and Trick or Treating

25 Curious Halloween Facts You May Not Know

(Found these on curiosity.com.)

The all female Ghostbusters trailer we needed.

I think we all knew in our hearts we needed this. And here it is. A group of middle school kids have brought up a remake of the original Ghostbusters trailer. Only they've swapped the genders.

Prepare for joy.

Treats to come on Halloween

It's an odd thing. People often like to put down the candy corn.

Is it a silly name? Yes. Is it an odd shape? Yup. Is it a weird color choice? Of course.

But does it taste bad? No. It's fine. I wouldn't want to sit and eat a bag of it. It isn't that good. Besides, that's a bag of sugar.

But the attitude towards it is odd.

As a counterpoint, remember this from your Halloweens nights?

A popcorn ball. If you've never seen it before passed to you as you Trick or Treated about, it is a thing you could get.

Why? I can't fathom. They are dreadful. It's like seeing a rice cake as a treat.

Sure, you can add flavor. But still...

Bleech!

So I hope no kids will be getting that Halloween night.

On the plus side I actually have seen a new treat that, to me, is kind of cool.

Caramel Apple. And it works. Surprised me, but it actually has a nice taste to it.

Something good came from this Halloween season.

Web Series to watch on Halloween

With Halloween here, you may need some viewing choices via your computer, or phone, or tablet.

Here are some web series that may prove a diversion amidst everything else you'll be dealing with today.

Plus there's an extra video at the end.


Carmilla
A missing roommate leads to a new one. And I think she might be a vampire.

Frankenstein, MD
Victoria takes bold strides into her destiny, and comes to regret it all.

Monster Management
It's time to rebrand your nightmares.

Spooked
Paranormal hunt, but with some humor.

And here's a video looking at the problems that come when you are a serial killer with a franchise to keep going.

Happy Halloween!