Obscurorant 2.0

I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow John Wayne and Howard Hawks combined to make a dull movie. I like the Duke and Hawks, but Hatari was one long snooze fest.

You can count on a Hawks’ movie to feature two, if not three of the following elements: a loosely structured plot; a close-knit group of folks performing a task or task under trying circumstances; and a man and woman engaging in a courtship that vaguely resembles a cease-fire negotiation. Rio Bravo and To Have and Have Not contain all three of the above elements.

So does Hatari. Unfortunately. The plot of a Hawk’s movie usually contains a simple proposition, such as ‘Will the Resistance Leader escape?’ that keeps the scenes loosely connected and the story moving forward.. In Hatari, when not bantering with one another, the characters chase animals in jeeps to no over-all discernable purpose. Outside of Wayne, the group of close-knit comrades is either serviceable but boring (Hardy Kruger and some French guy) or wince-inducing (Red Buttons). The romantic plot line - well actually the two romantic plot lines - lack any sort of spark at all.

Hatari is a film to avoid. Even Rio Lobo was better, and with so many great Hawks films available, there’s no reason to ever subject yourself to this one.

This map is so feckin’ cool it makes me want to start reading The Mysterious Island immediately.

Some links concerning Massachusetts-That-Was:

The Ghost Cloverleaf of Canton

A picture of one of the original Howard Johnson’s in Wollaston.

And while we’re in the wayback machine - vintage posters for sale online.

“Look eye! Always look eye!”

Been enjoying Sippican Cottage a lot recently, so I added it to the blogroll. Added The Fat Guy while I was at it.

This Saturday morning I’ll turn in my last assignment of the semester.

Sunday? A book sale at the Thomas Crane Library, followed by The Good, The Bad and the Ugly at the Brattle.  Let me know if you want to come along.

Last week The Telegraph published a list of the 50 best cult books. Let leave aside the question of what exactly a ‘cult book’ is, and focus on the important thing here - me. I consider myself fairly well-read, but it turns out I’ve only read six of the fifty books listed.

The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

I’m not sure how this can be a cult book when it’s shoved down the throats of thousands upon thousands of unsuspecting high school kids every year . It was pressed upon me as an adolescent and I loathed it then as I do now. Holden Caulfield = big whiner. Life is pain, highness, etc. etc.and etc.

Chariots of the Gods - Erik von Daniken

From cover to cover this book is filled with unmitigated nonsense. But for a kid in junior high kid lately enthralled with the original Battlestar Galactica (”There are those who believe that life here began out there…”) it was riveting stuff.

Dune - Frank Herbert

A classic. I’ve re-read it several times.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

Another must read in the education of young geek.

On The Road - Jack Kerouac

I didn’t get around to reading this until four or five years ago, and I wasn’t terribly impressed. Maybe there’s another book that can account for Kerouac’s reputation?

Fear and Loathing and Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson

Printed comfort food. The high point of Thompson’s output.

I love this picture: Brendan Behan and Jackie Gleason. Now that must have been one hell of an evening.

Submitted for your consideration: a post on the 30th anniversary of The Silmarillion. Much less popular (and read) than either The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion contains what may be my favorite passage, or story, in all of Tolkien’s work: the tale of Beren and Luthien.

Not only was I unaware that such a thing as the Culinary Arts Museum existed, I had no idea there was an entire exhibit devoted to diners. Might be a nice day trip, if you can get there before June of this year (when the exhibit ends).

Tomorrow the first four Replacements albums - Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash, Stink, Hootenanny, and Let It Be - will be reissued, in remastered form with bonus tracks, by Rhino Records. My initial reaction was ‘meh, I don’t really need to buy these albums again,’ but this article may have changed my mind. The article notes that the band’s final four albums will be reissued in the same manner in September. I think I can see my way to at least getting the reissues of the ‘Big Three, e.g., Let It Be, Tim, and Pleased To Meet Me.

Speaking of Dark Tower, did you know that you can play it on line? Or that Orson Welles touted the game way back in the day?

When I was a kid I was fascinated by the prop-driven war planes of WWII. Back then I filled a sketch book with drawings of those aircraft but now the internet provides grist for that particular mill:

Brutal-Looking Airplanes at 2blowhards.

Creamer’s Dream from Shorpy.

More than 60 years ago six P-38 Lightnings and two B-17 bombers left Presque Isle, Maine, headed for England. They never made it; instead all eight plans set down on an ice cap in Greenland. Fifty years later a group of aviation enthusiasts decided to locate the ‘Lost Squadron’ and recover one of the P-38s - from under the 25 stories of ice that had buried the planes in the intervening years…

That P-38, now dubbed ‘Glacier Girl,’ was full restored and  returned to the sky.

Oh, the humanity: va-rice-ity!

There was no reason for my eyes to blink open at 6:20 this morning, as my alarm had yet to go off.

Nor was there any reason for the theme song from Arthur to be running through my mind almost as soon as I became conscious of being awake.