text:
Tag Archives: Weapons
November 1, 2014 by Moreland
I Survived!
I survived, did you?
So this year's Horrorfest was very, very different. After last year's issues, I started writing this in May. This was the first time I have ever fully planned out a Horrorfest, as I had all the films picked and almost all finished by September.
So for the past two years, you have heard me say how I haven't been able to complete all of Universal's Classic Monster Films. Well I finally did it. Wooot!!!
Once I wrote that post, I was so excited. You see, I felt I really couldn't do a post on any werewolf films until I had covered the first one. I thought it was only right to start with the original. With that done, I could move onto any other werewolf film I desired. And I did. I decided to end Horrorfest with The Wolfman (2010). But then I decided to take it one step further. About every five episodes has a werewolf in it. It was a howling good time.
I also decided to do When a Stranger Calls, because of the phone harassment I had experienced. I took this one step further by doing all four of the Scream films, along with the Alfred Hitchcock film Dial "M" for Murder.
Speaking of Alfred Hitchcock, after hearing me complain for two years about trying to review one of his films, I have reviewed not one, not two, but three Alfred Hitchcock films. I was only planning on doing Under Capricorn, because I was planning on talking about Samson Flunky for St. Patrick's Day 2015. I ended up doing Shadow of a Doubt as it just entered my mind and Dial "M" for Murder. Still haven't gotten around to Psycho. Well, there's always next year.
So every year I mention wanting to do Vincent Price films; like House on Haunted Hill. The Tomb of Ligeia, The Pit and the Pendulum, etc. I didn't get around to any of those famous Vincent Price films, but I did do a film with him in it. I went over Laura (1944), which is when he is really young.
So I hope you all enjoyed it! I did. But then everyday to me is October.
So I usually put in a poll to see what you all you like, but I decided that I don't care. I liked them all. Instead I'm just going to list them below for some of you who might have missed them.
Even a Man Pure of Heart: The Wolf Man (1941)
It's Coming From Inside the House: When A Stranger Calls (2006)
In Their Proper Place: Metropolis (1927)
What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?: Scream (1996)
I'll Be Back: The Terminator (1984)
Let Them Fight: Godzilla (2014)
Unleash the Savage Instincts that Lie Hidden Within: I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957)
What is This Thing?: Phantoms (1998)
Only A Woman: Queen of Outer Space (1958)
It's Happening Again, Isn't It?: Scream 2 (1997)
You Will Die in Seven Days: The Ring (2002)
Keep Clear Of the Moor. Beware the Moon: An American Werewolf in London (1981)
I Was Here For A Moment. And Then I Was Gone: The Lovely Bones (2009)
Part X: The Movie List That Would Not Die
Tuesday the 17th: Psych (2009)
All I Know About Trilogies is That in the Third One, All Bets are Off: Scream 3 (2000)
Who's Afraid of Cory Wolf: Boy Meets World (1994)
But the Book, It Will Never Close…: Along Came a Spider (2001)
Every Time I Bring a Girl Over, You Try to Eat Her!: Vampires Suck (2010)
Murder is My Favorite Crime: Laura (1944)
Monster Movie: Supernatural (2008)
Don't F*** With the Original: Scre4m (2011)
Werewolves Roam Among Us: Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman (2000)
The Past of a Man: Under Capricorn (1949)
There's Nothing Out There. Nothing in the Mist: The Mist (2007)
The Perfect Murder: Dial "M" for Murder (1954)
Beast or Man: The Wolfman (2010)
Posted in Horrorfest III
Tagged 31 Days of Horror, Alfred Hitchcock, Along Came a Spider, Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman, An American Werewolf in London, B Horror Film, B Horror Films, Basement, Black, Boy Meets World, Classic Horror Film, Comic Relief, Curious, Dial M for Murder (1954), Exorcisms, Faith, Ghostface, Godzilla (2014), Gone Girl, Grimm (TV Series), Halloween, Holy Water, Horror, Horror Days, Horror Film, Horror Film Junkie, Horror Flick, Horror King, Horror Movie, Horror Movie Countdown, Horror Movie Slasher, Horror Movies, Horror Parody, Horror Story, Horror-Comedy, Horror-Mystery, Horror-Romance, Horror-SciFi, Horror-Suspense, Horrorfest, Horrorfest 2013, Horrorfest Hangover, Horrorfest II, Horrorfest III, House on Haunted Hill, How to Survive a Horror Film, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Jason Voorhees, Jaws, Jaws (1975), Kenya, Laura (1944), May, Metropolis (1927), Modern Horror Films, Obsession With Horror Film, October, Phantoms (1998), Psych, Psycho (1960), Queen Of Outer Space, Satan, Scary Movie, Scary Movies, Scre4m, Scream (1996), Scream 2, Scream 3, September, Sequel, Shadow of a Doubt, St. Patrick's Day, Supernatural, Suspense Horror Drama, The Lovely Bones, The Mist, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Ring (2002), The Terminator, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wolf Man (1941), The Wolfman (2010), Under Capricorn, Universal's Classic Monster Movie Collection, Vampires Suck!, Vincent Price, Watch Horror Films, Weapons, When a Stranger Calls
October 5, 2014 by Moreland
So The Terminator is one of the best Horror-ScFi films ever! It is also one of the best Sci-fi films ever! It is one of the best '80s films ever! It is one of the best Arnold Schwarzenegger films ever! It is one of my all-time favorote films!
I think it is incredibly awesome! Did you know the initial draft for the movie was sold to James Cameron's wife, Gale Anne Hurd for the price of $1 only.
So the film starts off in May 12, 1984 (We just celebrated it's 30th anniversary. That's why I had to review it) with two beings from the year 2029 (we have 15 years left! I'm going to be alive then, woah!!!) Anyways, one is the Terminator T-800 Model 101, the cyborg assassin who is there to hunt down Sarah Connor and take her out before she can get pregnant and give birth to the father of the future resistance and the only threat to computer control. I just love this opening scene as you see how BA and hardcore the Terminator is.
Arnold Schwarzenegger originally wanted to play Kyle Reese. But James Cameron had a different idea and saw Schwarzenegger in the title role of The Terminator. After all as Cameron told Schwarzenegger, "This movie is not about the hero. It's about The Terminator". Just like Barney said:
The second person is Kyle Reese, sent by Sarah's son to protect her. I love this actor as I just think he is so cute! And its funny, because everything I see him in I always think of him as Kyle Reese.
Anyways, so as Reese is tracking him down, the Terminator is looking for Sarah. He starts going through the telephone book and just mowing down every Sarah he runs into.
Arnold Schwarzenegger worked with guns everyday for a month to prepare for the role; the first two weeks of filming he practiced weapons stripping and reassembly blindfolded until the motions were automatic, like a machine. He spent hours at the shooting range, practicing with different weapons without blinking or looking at them when reloading or cocking; he also had to be ambidextrous. He practiced different moves up to 50 times.
Meanwhile, Sarah is unknowingly is going on with her normal life. She makes plans to go out to the club, while her friend is going to hang out at home with her boyfriend. When Sarah's out she sees a news report on the TV about Sarah Conner's being murdered and calls her friend at home to warn her. Unfortunately, she's just missed her. She has already been terminated.
The Terminator hears her message and tracks her down there. Before he can kill her, Reese makes it in time and knocks the Terminator down.
Back off bot!
Of course he hasn't actually killed him, as that is extremely hard to do, but he has managed to buy him and Sarah enough time to take off.
As the two are driving off, Kyle tells Sarah about the future. In the year 2015 (NEXT YEAR!!!), Skynet, a computer defense system, will become self aware and begin a nuclear war against the humans. Sarah's unborn son, John, is the one who will lead the rebellion against the machines and is the only chance for humankind. With the resistance on the verge of victory, Skynet sent a terminator back. A Terminator is a being with a metal endoskeleton covered by a layer of living tissue, so that he looks more humanlike and harder to determine as cyborg.
Sarah is so freaked out that she doesn't know how to make heads or tails of the whole issue. She doesn't have very much time, as the Terminator has caught up with them and is chasing them down in a truck. Their two cars crash and the police show up.
The Terminator goes off to heal himself, and it is an uber crazy scene!
They take Reese into custody as they think that he purposely killed a man (the Terminator). They interrogate him, but think that he is crazy as they cannot find any proof that the Terminator exists. While Sarah is making a statement, we have one of the best and most quoted scenes of all time. 🙂
"The Terminator: I'll be back."–The Terminator (1984)
Sorry about that. I'm back on track now. So While the Terminator marches in and starts killing all sorts of people, Kyle and Sarah escape.
They flee to a cheap motel where Sarah questions Kyle more about why he was picked to go on this dangerous mission as he can never return home. Reese tells her he volunteered. John had a picture of her and Kyle fell in love looking at it and hearing about her. He didn't care if he couldn't go back as it was worth it to be with her. Sarah is touched by his words and the two have sex.
Look at that hunky man
The next day Reese takes off to get supplies and leaves Sarah alone in the motel. She calls her mom to let her know she is okay. That would be great…except that her mom is already dead and the woman she is talking to is actually the Terminator mimicking the voice. Than Sarah does the stupidest thing, she gives her "mom" the phone number of the place she is at. Why would you do that when there is a killer on the loose Sarah? Why? You know he already knows who you and is hunting you down.
So Kyle comes back and teaches Sarah everything she needs to know about creating her own weapons out of common products. While the two are having this sweet scene, the Terminator has tracked them down. Luckily, the dog belonging to the motel's owner starts barking, warning Reese.
The two get involved in a second car chase in which Kyle throws pipe bombs at the Terminator to try and stop him. Reese is wounded and the momentarily stop the Terminator, burning off all his flesh.
He chases the two into a nearby factory. This part is pretty cool, as Sarah takes control of the situation, giving us a preview to how BA she will be in the sequel.
Reese attacks the Terminator, but realizes he doesn't have much time left, as he's wounded too bad. He stuffs a bomb into the Terminator's stomach, the explosion killing Reese and severely injuroing the Terminator. It continues to try and take Sarah down, who leads it to a hydraulic press and crushes it. The only thing that survives is an arm.
Sarah is later taken out of the factory by an ambulance as Kyle's body is taken away and buried.
Months later a pregnant Sarah is traveling through Mexico and is recording audio tapes for John when he's older. This is where we are introduced to the amazing Terminator paradox. John is 20 years older than his father. Sarah is like 45 years older than her child's father. Plus John has to care for Kyle Reese and make sure he survives until he can send him back or else he won't be born. Crazy! Makes your head spin.
And if you want the really abbreviated version, go to 30 Second Bunnies
Now even though I absolutely love this movie, I will say that How It Should Have Ended did a pretty good job.
To go to the previous post, go to What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?
For more on The Terminator, go to My Favorite Movie Lines
For more on Linda Hamilton, go to He Who Walks Behind the Rows
For more cyborgs, go to In Their Proper Place
For more on a resistance group, go to Na-Na-Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)
For more on '80s films, go to The Anniversary of Its Formation
For more films that spanned sequels, go to Just Follow the Screams
For more on How I Met Your Mother, go to Fashionably Postworthy
Tagged '80s CGI, '80s film, 1984, 2015, 2029, 30 Second Bunnies, 30th Anniversary, Actor, All About the '80s, All Kinds of Crazy, Ambidextrous, Ambulance, Arm, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Assassin, Audio Tape, Audio Tapes, Back to the Future, Back to the Future III, Back to the Future Part III, Barney Stinson, Biff Tanner, Blindfold, Blindfolded, Blink, Blinking, Bodyguard, Bomb, Boyfriend, Burned, Burning, Burns the Flesh, Can Never Return Home, Car Crash, Cheap Motel, Club, Clubbing, Cocking Gun, Computer Control, Computer Defense System, Crazy, Create Weapons, Cyborg, Cyborg Assassin, Dangerous Mission, Dead, Dead Mother, Doc Brown, Dog, Emmet "Doc" Brown, Endoskeleton, Escape, Escape from Prison, Factory, Fall in Love, Fell in Love, Film, Filming, Gale Anne Hurd, George McFly, Go Crazy, Guns, Hang Out, Hang Out at Home, Harry Potter, Head or Tails, Head Spin, Hear, Hero, Horror-SciFi, How I Met Your Mother, How It Should Have Ended, Humanlike, Hunk of a Man, Hunks, Hunt, Hunting, Hydraulic Press, I'll Be Back, I'll Be Right Back, Interrogate, James Cameron, John Conner, Killer on the Loose, Kyle Reese, Leader, Leader of the Rebellion, Leader of the Resistance, Linda Hamilton, Living Tissue, Marty, Marty McFly, May 12th 1984, Metal, metal endoskeleton, Mexico, mimicking the voice, Mission, Mom, Motel, Murder, Murdered, Murderer, Needs Proof, News Report, Normal Life, Nuclear, Nuclear War, Paradox, Phone Number, Picture, Pipe Bombs, Police, Police Force, Police Officer, Police Officers, Policemen, Pregnant, Preview, Questions, Quoted, Rebellion, Record, Recording, Reloading, Robot, Sarah Conner, Self-Aware, Sequel, Sex, Skynet, Son, Spanned Sequels, Statement, Supplies, Sweet Scene, Tape, Tapes, Teach, Telephone Book, Terminated, Terminator Paradox, Terminator T-800, Terminator T-800 Model 101, The Resistance, The Terminator, Things As Normal, Thinks He Killed Someone, Truck, TV, Unborn Son, Volunteer, Volunteered, War, Weapon Stripping, Weapons, Weapons Out of Common Products, Weapons Reassembly, Without Blinking, World Controlled by Computers, Wounded
So this Horrorfest, I am going to be doing something a little different. We are going to have "Screamtastic Saturdays". Every Saturday in October going to be on a different Scream movie. So let's kick it off with:
What's your favorite scary movie?
*Spolier Alert*
So I really loved this movie. I have to say that Wes Craven as one of the horror kings totally tanked on Nightmare on Elm Street. This was by far, much better. One of the coolest things about this film is that it is a parody of horror films, while still being its own horror film.
So the beginning starts off with Drew Barrymore cooking popcorn and preparing for a fun night in watching scary movies with her boyfriend. Just like When A Stranger Calls, she receives a strange phone call and is at first into it, thinking it is just a joke.
However, it slowly turns as the caller threatens Casey that he is going to kill her and her boyfriend.
But she has a chance at being saved, all she has to do is answer who was the killer in Friday the 13th.
"Phone Voice: Name the killer in Friday the 13th.
Casey: Jason! Jason! Jason!
Phone Voice: I'm sorry. That's the wrong answer!
Casey: No, it's not. No it's not. It was Jason.
Phone Voice: Afraid not. No way.
Casey: Listen, it was Jason! I saw that movie 20 g******* times!
Phone Voice: Then you should know that Jason's mother, Mrs. Voorhees was the original killer. Jason didn't show up until the sequel. I'm afraid that was a wrong answer.
Casey: [Weeping] You tricked me.
Phone Voice: Lucky for you there's a bonus round, but poor Steve… I'm afraid he's OUT!"
So Steve is murdered and Casey runs throughout the house trying to get away from the killer. Of which she doesn't make it out and finds herself victim #1.
And thus the body count begins…
So the killing of Drew Barrymore holds two significant things. One, she was one the most famous actress in the film, and was killed first. This was supposed to be a homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), in which the most famous actress of the film, Janet Leigh, was only in the movie for a short while before she was killed. This was also supposed to be a parody of Craven's film Nightmare on Elm Street, when the first character we meet, Tina (played by Amanda Wyss),is killed. Craven also had his character Casey wear white just like Tina in Nightmare on Elm Street.
The next day, the town Woodsboro is just ravanged by reporters who are eager to find out more about this murder, especially since it occurred almost exactly a year after their little town experienced a murder just as gruesome. The murder of Maureen Prescott by Cotton Weary.
Meanwhile, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is trying to cope with everything that is going on.
She is having a really hard time with the anniversary of her mother's death. When she hears about the murders and sees the reporters it brings the mess of the past year back to her. The memories just come flooding back.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
One of her other big issues is her boyfriend Billy Loomis.
Okay, I just have to go off on a tangent here: Billy is sooooooooooooo creepy looking. When I first saw this I was like he is toooootally the killer. I mean LOOK AT HIM! He has killer written alllll over him. Those eyes, they are super frigtening. And the way he talks? He tells Sidney that he was watching Silence of the Lambs and that made him think of her and want to come over and get funky. What a freak!
(BTW it is another Psycho reference. Billy Loomis is a homage to Sam Loomis, Marion Crane's boyfriend in Psycho; and Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween.)
Anyways, so the two have been having issues since Sidney's mom died. She was so traumatized by the event that she has isolated herself and found it hard to let anyone in again. Her best friend Tatum is cool with it as she understands she needs time to grieve, but Billy has been having a hard time backtracking from third base to the benches. Ladies, let me just say that if any guy ever tries to pressure into having sex when you aren't ready, junk punch him and run away. You don't need that loser in your life.
That day her father has to go out of town, leaving Sidney all alone in a big house.
Yep, gonna make When a Stranger Calls references all night.
She makes plans to meet up with Tatum and stay at her place, but falls asleep. Tatum is late picking her up as her cheerleading practice went way over. While Sidney is waiting she gets a phone call from the killer who starts harassing her. And she stupidly calls throughout the house trying to find him.
"Sidney Prescott: Can you see me right now? Ah, okay. [puts a finger in her nose] What am I doing? Huh? Huh? What am I doing? Hello? [takes finger out] Nice try, Randy. Tell Tatum to hurry up, okay? Bye now.
Ghostface: IF YOU HANG UP ON ME, YOU'LL DIE JUST LIKE YOUR MOTHER! Do you want to die, Sidney? Your mother sure didn't.
Sidney Prescott: F*** you, you cretin!"
Soon the killer comes in her house and she has to run away from him and try to get the police there. Billy shows up, climbing through her window. Sidney sees that he has a cellphone and freaks out, having the police cart him away.
So there are a couple places that were filmed in Santa Rosa, CA. One was the bathroom scene in which Sidney is attacked, the other is Tatum's house which is right across the street from the house used in Pollyanna (1960). It is also across the street from the house used in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943). The house in the opening scene was next door to the house used in Cujo (1983).
Sidney spends the night at Tatum's house and the next day is completely crazy. Billy was released as they had nothing to hold him. And they still are unable to find her father as he never checked into his hotel. Plus Gale Weathers, a reporter who has been harassing her for a year, and all the other reporters are driving her crazy!
"Gale: There she is! Sidney, hi, what happened? Are you alright?
Tatum: She's not answering any questions alright. Just leave us alone.
Sidney Prescott: No, no Tatum it's OK. She's just doing her job, right Gale?
Gale: That's right.
Sidney Prescott: So how's the book?
Gale: Oh it'll be out later this year.
Sidney Prescott: Oh, I'll look for it.
Gale: I'll send you a copy.
[Sidney turns around a punches Gale in the face]"
Also at the school we have a little Wes Craven easter egg, as he dresses up as a janitor in a Freddy Krueger sweater.
So the principal decides to suspend school until further notice as it is just too risky for the students. After they all have left, he finds himself joining the body count as well, victim #2.
The death of the principal was actually added to the film late into production. Bob Weinstein noticed there were 30 pgs in the script were nobody died and they decided that they needed another victim.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Billy's friend Stu decides to throw a party and have all the kids in school come. I don't understand why anyone's parents would allow their kids to go out like that with A FREAKIN' KILLER ON THE LOOSE. Come on people, Parent!!
At the party, the kids are chillin', drinking beer, watching horror films, etc. Billy and Sidney go upstairs and talk, resulting in the two having sex.
Meanwhile downstairs everyone is chillin' while Tatum goes off to the garage to get more beer. The scene in the garage is the only weak link in the film. First of all when Tatum walks over to the garage door and it almost closes on her, that would never happen. My dad is a contractor and I remeber when I was a kid I thought the garage would close on me too. However, they design garage doors specfically to not do that. In fact they have a certain radius that if someone was to walk within that radius the door would stop. And come on she IS IN A FREAKIN' GARAGE!!! Do you know how many weapons there are in that thing? She passes over a hoe, rake, and a shovel! You see all kinds of tools throughout their fight too. She could easly find something to attack him and win. Although I do have to give props to Wes for allowing Tatum to to put up such a great fight.
Back in the living room, Randy is giving a rundown on how to survive a horror film, (* are the rules that are given by the killer).
You will not survive if you have sex
You will not survive if you do drugs or drinks
You will not survive if you say "I'll be right back."
Everyone is a suspect
*You will not survive if you ask "Who's there."*
*You will not survive if you go out to investigate a strange noise*
While all this is going on, Gale and Tatum's brother Officer Dewey, have been spying on the party. Gale has snuck a camera into the party, so that she can view everything from her van. She and Dewey both take a break though, "walking off" together where they come upon Sidney's father's abandoned car.
Everyone back at the party gets the news that the principal is dead and had been strung up on the football field. Almost everyone leaves; with just Randy, Sidney, Billy, Stu, and Gale's cameraman Kenny (in the van) staying behind .The killer comes out and starts attacking.
One of the best scenes is the scene where a drunk Randy is telling Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween to turn around while the killer is behind him. He constantly repeats, "Jamie, turn around. Turn around, Jamie!" as the killer is slowly creeping up behind him. The actor who plays Randy is also named Jamie (Jamie Kennedy) and the killer was currently behind him. This is also the only scene in which the killer is actually one of the actors. Skeet Ulrich had asked specifically if he could wear the costume for one scene.
So Kenny and Dewey fall victim to his knife.
Victim #4&5
After Sidney and Billy are done having sex and have placed their clothes back on the killer charges in and stabs Billy. Sidney manages to run away and finds Tatum's body.
As she continues running away she ends up getting in the way of Gale who was fleeing the killer from her van. Gale swerves to miss Sidney and crashes, getting knocked out. Sidney goes back to the house, taking the gun from the dying Dewey. She runs into Randy and Stu and is unsure who is the killer. She then runs into a wounded Billy and gives him the gun. Billy immediately shoots Randy and stands up.
Yep, Billy isn't injured at all. In fact, it was all a ploy he is the real killer.
Billy: Corn Syrup, just like in the real movies.
Yep, the whole time Billy and Stu have been the killers. From Sidney's mom to everyone else.
"Sidney Prescott: Why? Why did you kill my mother?
Billy: Why? WHY! You hear that Stu? I think she wants a motive. Well I don't really believe in motives Sid, I mean did Norman Bates have a motive?
Stu: No.
Billy: Did we ever find out why Hannibal Lecter like to eat people? DON'T THINK SO! See it's a lot more scarier when there's no motive, Sid. We did your Mom a favor, Sid. That woman was a slut-bag whore who flashed her s*** all over town like she was Sharon Stone or somethin'.
Stu: Yeah, we put her out of her misery, 'cause let's face Sidney, your mother was no Sharon Stone,hmm?
Billy: Is that motive enough for you? How about this? Your slut mother was f****** my father and she's the reason my mom moved out and abandoned me. [Sid looks astonished] How's that for a motive? Maternal abandonment causes serious deviant behaviour. It certainly f***** you up. It made you have sex with a psychopath."
Yep, and not only that the planned the whole thing out so that her father would take the blame, make it look like he had a mental breakdown on the anniversary of his wife's death and started killing people. They had kidnapped him and bring him out for their final act. Billy and Stu planned that attack on Sidney to make any second arrest look false and questionable.
Of course their plan will not be complete until they make themselves look like victims. Stu stabs Billy, and Billy stabs Stu. While the two are monologing and arguing they have seemed to forget one important thing.
Sidney and her father have disappeared.
"Stu: S***…
Billy: What?
Stu: Oh, s***.
Billy: [They go into the kitchen to find Sidney and Mr. Prescott gone] Where are they? Where are they?
Stu: I don't know, Billy, but I'm hurtin', man!
Yep, just like they say in Dial M for Murder (1954), you can never plan the perfect murder. What sounds good on paper can never transfer to real life, because in real life there are just too many things that can go wrong.
"Margot Mary Wendice: Do you really believe in the perfect murder?
Mark Halliday: Mmm, yes, absolutely. On paper, that is. And I think I could, uh, plan one better than most people; but I doubt if I could carry it out.
Tony Wendice: Oh? Why not?
Mark Halliday: Well, because in stories things usually turn out the way the author wants them to; and in real life they don't… always."
So here Stu and Billy find themselves completely off script, and unsure…
[the phone rings]
Stu: Should I let the machine get it?
Billy: [answers it] Hello?
Sidney Prescott: Are you alone in the house?
Billy: B****! You b****, where the f*** are you?
Sidney Prescott: Not so fast, we're going to play a little game. It's called: Guess who just called the police and reported your sorry motherf******* a**!
[Stu is slowly collapsing to the floor]
Billy: Find her, you dips***! Get up!
Stu: I can't, Billy. You already cut me too deep. I think I'm dying here, man!
Billy: [Billy gives Stu the phone] Talk to her. Talk to her.
Stu: Hello?
Sidney Prescott: Ah, Stu, Stu, Stu… What's your motive? Billy's got one. The police are on their way. What are you going to tell them?
Stu: Peer pressure. I'm far too sensitive.
Billy:[Billy takes the phone back] I'm going to rip you up, b****, just like your f****** mother!
Sidney Prescott: You've gotta find me first, you pansy-a** momma's boy!"
Now the game of cat and mouse has changed with the hunted becoming the hunters.
In the end Gale, Sidney, Dewey, Mr. Prescott, and Randy survive.
So that was Scream one of the best horror-parodies ever made. For more fun check out Scream in 30 sec with bunnies. And How It Should Have Ended
This film really brought back the slasher genre, as after this slasher remakes and slasher film numbers escalated. It also brought up the debate on whether or not violence in movies affected people and caused them to become more violent? The most important thing is that this film increased the use of caller ID and made such phone harassment much harder. Although not for me.
The other thing I realized in this film is that I am soooooo Randy.
I also realized that just like The Cable Guy, I'm only a few steps away from the crazy.
Well, that's Scream. Tune in next Saturday for Scream 2.
To go to the previous post, go to In Their Proper Place
For more on Scream, go to When Horror Doesn't Stay on the Screen
For more on Wes Craven, go to Krueger Town
For more on phone harrasment, go to It's Coming From Inside the House
For more films influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, go to Everyone's Entitled to One Good Scare
For more on serial killers, go to Hello? Is There a Killer in My Kitchen?
For more on slasher films, go to Camp Blood
For more films that spanned numerous sequels, go to He Who Walks Behind the Rows
Posted in Horrorfest III, Mansfield Park
Tagged Abandoned Car, Alfred Hitchcock, All Alone, All Night Party, Amanda Wyss, Anonymous Phone Calls, Backtrack, Basic Instinct, Beer, Behind You, Benches, Billy Loomis, Blood, Bob Weinstein, Body Count, Book, Boyfriend, Caller ID, Cameraman, Car Crash, Car Crashes, Cat and Mouse, Cell Phone, Cellphone, Climb Through the Window, Contractor, Copy, Corn Syrup, Cotton Weary, Courtney Cox, Creeped, Creepy, Cujo, David Arquette, Dead Body, Dead Mother, Deadly Party, Deviant Behaviour, Dial M for Murder (1954), Disappeared, Don't Trust Him, Dr. Sam Loomis, Drew Barrymore, Drink, Drugs, Easter Egg, Everyone is a Suspect, Eyes, Fake Blood, Father, Fight, Fighter, Final Act, Frame-Up, Freddy Kreuger, Friday the 13th (1980), Gale Weathers, Garage, Garage Door, Ghostface, Gilmore Girls, Grieve, Halloween (1978), Hannibal Lecter, Henry Crawford, Hoe, Horror Film, Horror Film Junkie, Horror Films, Horror Flick, Horror King, Horror Movie Slasher, Horror Movies, Horror Parody, Horrorfest III, House, How It Should Have Ended, How to Survive a Horror Film, Hunted Now the Hunter, I'll Be Right Back, Influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, Investigate a Strange Noise, Isolated, Isolation, Issues, Jamie Kennedy, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Jason Voorhees, Junk Punch, Kenny, Kidnapped, Killer, Killer on the Loose, Kitchen, Knocked Out, Left Alone, Living Room, Machine, Mansfield Park, Mansfield Park (1999), Marion Crane, Maternal Abandonment, Matthew Lillard, Maureen Prescott, Mental Breakdown, Moron, Motive, Mrs. Voorhees, Murder, Murdered, Murderer, Neve Campbell, Nightmare on Elm Street, Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), No Pressure, Norman Bates, October, Officer Dewey, Parental Supervision, Parodied, Parody, Party, Phone, Phone Harassment, Plan, Ploy, Police, Pollyanna 1960, Popcorn, Pressure, Pressure to Have Sex, Principal, Psycho, Psycho (1960), Psycho Ex, Psychological Thriller, Psychopath, Psychotic Dude, Punch, Punch in the Face, Radius, Rake, Randy, Randy Noooooo!, Reporter, Reporters, Risk, Risky, Robert Redford, Rory Gilmore, Run Away, Sam Loomis, Sandwich, Sandwiches, Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa CA, Saturday, Scary, Scary Movie, Scary Movies, Scream, Scream (1996), Scream 2, Screamtastic Saturdays, Sequel, Serial Killer, Sex, Shadow of a Doubt, Sharon Stone, Shovel, Sidney Prescott, Skeet Ulrich, Slasher Flick, Slasher Genre, Slut, Spanned Sequels, Spy, Spying, Steve, Stu, Suspend School, Talk, Tatum, The Great Gatsby (1974), The Perfect Murder, The Silence of the Lambs, theotherausten.tumblr.com, Third Base, Time to Grieve, Tina, Tools, Traumatized, Van, Victim, Walk, Watch Horror Films, Weak Link, Weapons, Wes Craven, What Happens in Vegas, When a Stranger Calls, White, Who's There?, Whole Thing Planned Out, Whore, Window, Woodsboro, Wounded


Take Online Anger Management Classes To Improve Your Physical and Emotional Health!
Home > Blog > Take Online Anger Management Classes To Improve Your Physical and Emotional Health!
Feeling angry in your life on a daily basis can cause major long-term health issues. When a person is young, they might get a sense of energy out of these feelings, but as we age, they can take a serious toll on the body. If you are tired of always having negative emotions, are afraid you have pushed others away, are having problems in the workplace, are beginning to feel the impact on your health and are ready to take ownership of your angry behavior, than an online anger management class is for you. Getting your anger under control by taking a class has many health benefits the average person may not be aware of.
Heart disease and anxiety are two of the more common health issues you will find related to constant anger. These issues alone are worth the effort of researching and enrolling in a quality online anger management class. Specifically, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. today. Angry and anxious feelings can cause your heart rate to increase, the rate of your blood flow to speed up causing high blood pressure and the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream which increases cholesterol and tryglicyeride levels. Learning how to lower stress levels in your life from an anger management class may help prevent it from becoming an issue in your own.
Furthermore, stress related to anger can cause numerous other physical and mental issues. Some people claim to become so angry that they can't concentrate on anything except the issue that made them angry to begin with. This lack of concentration can result in poor work performance and may even lead to accidents because of your lack of focus on the situation in front of you. Angry feelings can cause road rage which in turn increases chances of car accidents. Taking some time to learn to control yourself in a situation where you may be a danger to yourself or others will help keep those around you from feeling stressed out or scared of you as well.
Many people claim to have an upset stomach after they have been angered. This can lead to long term stomach problems from the release of acids ultimately causing acid reflux and gastric ulcers and should be a concern to anyone who experiences this on a regular basis. Furthermore, headaches can be a problem that stems from anger and can contribute to lost work time and other social issues.
Mental health issues are especially common for those who have anger control problems and depression is another example of this. Emotional issues can lead to relationship problems, domestic violence, loss of family and friends and isolation. Taking an anger management class online will encourage you to reflect on how you deal with anger, and teach you new skills to redirect this anger into a more positive way of living.
Taking an anger management class online rather than in a live classroom environment will automatically lower your stress level. An online course enables you to stay at home and take the class at your own relaxed pace. There is nothing to download or print out, it's all right there on the computer screen. Implementing new skills and techniques to tackle your anger issues will benefit your entire life, both physically and emotionally.


(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. shadow-banking system could take at least $11 billion of annual profit away from traditional lenders as competition intensifies over the next five years, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The emergence of non-bank lenders like asset managers and companies such as LendingClub Corp. and CommonBond Inc. is creating more competition for large banks, analysts Ryan M. Nash and Eric Beardsley said in a report. Tougher regulation, including capital rules and technological advances are driving the rise in shadow banking, they said.
"We expect the competitive landscape to shift over the next five to 10 years, with new entrants emerging and some activities moving out of the banking system," the Goldman Sachs analysts said. "Banks earned about $150 billion in 2014, and we estimate $11 billion plus," or 7 percent of annual profit could be at risk from these new sources of credit over the next five-plus years, it said.
Online lenders in the U.S. are challenging banks, which have dominated the loans industry historically. The startups tend to offer loans at lower interest rates than large banks because they operate with lower infrastructure costs and can reduce risk by gathering more information on borrowers and filtering out those most likely to default.
CommonBond, a New York-based online student-loan company, said on Feb. 5 that Nelnet Inc. invested an undisclosed amount, while providing at least $150 million to finance more loans. It's the latest online lender to gain more funds, following the initial public offering in December of LendingClub, which helped pioneer the market for peer-to-peer borrowing.
Shadow Banks Could Take $11 Billion Annual Profit, Goldman Says - Bloomberg Business.


text:
By Raquel Laneri August 8, 2011
For his Spring 2007 collection, fashion designer Alexander McQueen staged his presentation in the round at the Cirque d'hiver-Bouglione, the legendary circus in Paris. A group of classical musicians played Handel underneath a dusty chandelier, while models circled about in exquisite Edwardian dresses and expertly tailored suits. But the final look stole the show: a high-necked dress made of the most resplendent flowers—multiple shades of purple, dusty pink and sage green, a combination of real and silk ones. As the model walked a few of the flowers fell to the ground. At that moment, her gown revealed to be more than just this pretty dress: It was a living, dying, transient thing. When asked about the dress, McQueen said, "Things rot. … I used flowers because they die. My mood was darkly romantic at the time."
Throughout his 19-year career, Alexander McQueen, who killed himself on Feb. 11, 2010, at the age of 40, was known as an enfant terrible. He bragged that he once, while working as a tailor on London's esteemed Savile Row in the '80s, scrawled the C-word into the lining of a jacket he cut for Prince Charles. (McQueen was Scottish on his father's side, and a staunch anti-monarchist.) The collection that made him famous, 1995's Highland Rape, depicted women in ragged lace dresses and ill-fitting tartan suits that exposed their breasts. At various occasions, he sent models down the runway dragging skeletons or wearing trash bags on their head. Yet McQueen was actually an unabashed romantic. His was a particularly dark romance—strange and Gothic and tinged with melancholy and tragedy. (He listed Marie Antoinette, Joan of Arc and Catherine the Great among his muses.)
"Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty," the Metropolitan Museum of Art's enormously popular retrospective of the designer's work, closed on Aug. 7, as well as the catalog of the same name, published by Yale University Press, explores McQueen's romanticism, both the dark and the light. It also—more than any museum exhibition I have seen—makes a convincing case for fashion as an art form on equal footing with painting and literature. It does this through spectacle (100 dresses, 70 accessories, several videos and a hologram all in stunning tableaux and spanning seven galleries), as well as rigorous scholarship. But it also cements McQueen's reputation as an artist by, ironically, largely ignoring fashion altogether, opting to compare his work to 19th century Romantics like Poe and Byron, instead of to other artist-designers.
Left: dress from Widows of Culloden, autumn/winter 2006. Right: dress of fresh flowers from Sarabande, spring/summer 2007
Baudelaire defined romanticism as "situated neither in choice of subject nor exact truth, but in the way of feeling." McQueen was such a skilled craftsman, thanks to his years at Savile Row, that he could let his feelings and emotions guide his collections—even the most historical ones. His Highland Rape collection, for example, got its violent charge not just through its subject matter—England's massacre of the Scottish Highland people—but also, primarily, through McQueen's connection with the subject. "We're not talking about models' personal feelings here," he said after critics accused the collection of misogyny, "we're talking about mine. … Scotland for me is a harsh, cold and bitter place. … It's marketed the world over as, you know, fucking haggis, fucking bagpipes. But no one ever puts anything back into it. … There is nothing romantic about its history." In 2006, in a much more sedate mood, he revisited the subject, turning to the widows whose loved ones died during the Jacobite uprising, and creating endless riffs on tartan plaid—draping it, embroidering it, decorating it with lace, tailoring it so severely that it would look like armor. "The collection is romantic, luxurious but melancholic and austere at the same time. It was gentle but you could still feel the bite of the cold, the nip of the ice on the end of your nose."
McQueen's clothes are powerful enough on their own—walking through the galleries devoted to his two Scottish collections at the Met put a lump in my throat. But McQueen used the runway and performance art tactics to provoke even more extreme, visceral responses from his audience. "I don't want to do a cocktail party; I'd rather people left my shows and vomited," he said. In addition to featuring skeletons and garbage-bag hats, he once set a runway aflame (appropriately, for a collection based on Joan of Arc), staged a show on a frozen pond (the models wore ice skates), had his girls wear garish black clown makeup and vamp on a merry-go-round, and did an entire collection as a choreographed dance (based on Sydney Pollack's The Shoot Horses, Don't They?). His shows inspired a range of emotions, from horror and revulsion to sorrow and joy. Often they transcended the merely beautiful or horrible to the sublime—that tantalizing, unsettling mixture of the grotesque and terrifying with wonder and awe that captured the Romantics' imaginations.
Joan, autumn/winter 1998
This is the crux of "Savage Beauty." Its rooms dedicated to the grotesque and sublime are shocking, transfixing and emotionally exhausting—in a good way. The first of these galleries is a gilded mirrored room, with gothic light fixtures and creepy mood music. The first dress is a tight leather dress, with a complicated leather harness over it, and enormous fur sleeves. Then there's endless mourning dresses in black taffeta with jet beading, a hooded body suit with exaggerated shoulders made of duck feathers, another leather dress with a collar of pheasant feathers with two resin vulture skulls sitting on the shoulders. ("There's something … kind of Edgar Allan Poe … about [my] collections," the designer once stated. No kidding.) At the other end of the room is a glass case with the dresses from McQueen's last collection—draped gowns in golden hues printed with Flemish paintings of a suffering Christ and heavenly angels. The adjoining room, a cabinet of curiosities stacked floor-to-ceiling with fetishistic bondage gear, outlandish hats and perilously high footwear, is even more awesome and horrifying. Videos show snippets from some of McQueen's presentations.
Sketches from The Horn of Plenty, autumn/winter 2009
Other facets of Romanticism are explored as well. There's nationalism (exemplified in his Scottish collections), naturalism (live-flower gowns, burlap dresses, butterfly hats), exoticism (endless riffs on the Japanese kimono) and Darwinism. McQueen actually based two collections on The Origin of Species, one of which imagined a future where water would engulf the earth and humans would have to adapt to life under the sea. His fierce sea creature hybrids wear severe, sculpted minis in extreme hourglass shapes, covered in a psychedelic scaly print. Their hair looks like goat horns, and their feet are covered in iridescent, enormous armadillo-shaped shoes (the ones Lady Gaga wore in her video for "Bad Romance"). With this 2010 collection, McQueen brought his Romantic sublime into the postmodern world.
Dresses from Plato's Atlantis, spring/summer 2010. Based on the Origin of Species.
McQueen's unwavering belief in his instincts and his confidence in his talents allowed him to create such bold art. Individualism was important to McQueen. He not only wanted his collections to be different, but to be extensions of himself. For his master's thesis collection, in 1992, based on Jack the Ripper, he sewed his own hair into the lining of each garment—a signature he would develop for all his early collections. He established his design aesthetic early on—strict tailoring, mixed with romanticism, drama, and a narrative drive—and though he developed it, he never strayed from it. The exhibition, and the accompanying essay by curator Answer Bolton, argues this kind of conviction elevates him to the ranks of hero-artists who staunchly follow the dictates of their imaginations—such geniuses as Lord Byron, the French painter Eugene Delacroix and Ludwig van Beethoven.
While McQueen's sartorial rendering of the sublime places him among those geniuses, Yale's Savage Beauty presents McQueen sundered from fashion's history. Surely Romanticism enjoyed adherents in the contemporary fashion world besides McQueen. Savage Beauty makes little mention, for instance, of John Galliano. Galliano was also a romantic who shocked the fashion world with his lavish runway presentations and outré designs (he was recently arrested for making anti-Semitic statements at a Paris bar, and subsequently fired from Dior). In the late '90s, he and McQueen were the reigning bad boys of Parisian haute couture, and both have been beneficiaries of public personas based on the mad genius of Romantic lore. A stronger comparison between McQueen and Galliano might have revealed the ways in which nineties fashion shaped itself around dramatic, sometimes tragic, personalities.
Still, even if McQueen wasn't the only fashion designer to embrace Romanticism,Savage Beauty shows that he clearly made it his own, bringing it into the 21st century and radicalizing the fashion world in the process. Indeed, he may have proved too radical for his time. The fashion—and art worlds—are still catching up.
Shame: A Durkheimian Take
By William Davies
Steve McQueen's <i>Shame</i> is a lament for a culture that can't discover a legitimate limit to egoism
Cool Front/
By Danielle Meder
When it comes to Fashion Week, the key to knowing what's cool is not knowing anything
The Wintourian Candidate
By Fiona Duncan
With high theory and unstable irony, Not Vogue strives to liberate us from the seductions of corporatized fashion
"The minister may have felt that he was mocking the tourist or mimicking President John Magufuli, as some of his words were similar to those used by the president at a rally last month when he called on people to stop complaining about hunger, our correspondent adds."
By Virgil Taylor
' Tourist: "Hi. My visit to Tanzania has been beautiful, gorgeous. The people are fabulously wonderful and friendly. Greetings are always jambo [the Swahili…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
import os, sys
import numpy as np

import tensorflow as tf

import model
from model.util import *

class PseudoLabeling:
    """Pseudo-labeling function, which is implemented in the python iterator"""

    def __init__(self, model_base, model_conf, ld_src, ld_tar, ideal=False):
        """
        model_base: a classifier
        model_conf: a confidence predictor
        ld_src: source data loader
        ld_tar: target data loader
        """
        self.model_base = model_base
        self.model_conf = model_conf
        self.ld_src = ld_src
        self.ld_tar = ld_tar
        self.ideal = ideal

    def __iter__(self):
        """Initialize iterators."""
        self.iter_end = {'src': False, 'tar': False}
        self.iter = {'src': iter(self.ld_src), 'tar': iter(self.ld_tar)}
        return self

    def __next__(self):
        """return the next labeled examples"""

        ## source
        def sample_from_source():
            return next(self.iter['src'])

        try:
            x, y = sample_from_source()
        except StopIteration:
            self.iter_end['src'] = True

            if self.iter_end['src'] and self.iter_end['tar']:
                raise StopIteration
            else:
                self.iter['src'] = iter(self.ld_src)
                x, y = sample_from_source()
        x_src, y_src = x, y

        ## target
        def sample_from_target():
            while True:
                x, y = next(self.iter['tar'])
                if len(x.shape) == 5:
                    x_tc, x_st = x[:, 0, :, :, :], x[:, 1, :, :, :] # two different augmentation
                else:
                    x_tc, x_st = x, x

                y_pred = self.model_base(x_tc)['y_pred']
                conf = self.model_conf(x_tc)

                if self.ideal:
                    x_conf_i, y_conf_i, y_true_i = x_st[conf==1], y[conf==1], y[conf==1]
                else:
                    x_conf_i, y_conf_i, y_true_i = x_st[conf==1], y_pred[conf==1], y[conf==1]

                if any(conf==1):
                    break

            ## upsample
            n_repeat = x_st.shape[0] // x_conf_i.shape[0]
            x_conf = tf.repeat(x_conf_i, n_repeat, 0)
            y_conf = tf.repeat(y_conf_i, n_repeat, 0)
            y_true = tf.repeat(y_true_i, n_repeat, 0)

            n_remain = x_st.shape[0] - x_conf.shape[0]
            if n_remain > 0:
                x_conf = tf.concat((x_conf, x_conf_i[:n_remain]), 0)
                y_conf = tf.concat((y_conf, y_conf_i[:n_remain]), 0)
                y_true = tf.concat((y_true, y_true_i[:n_remain]), 0)

            return x_conf, y_conf

        try:
            x, y = sample_from_target()
        except StopIteration:
            self.iter_end['tar'] = True

            if self.iter_end['src'] and self.iter_end['tar']:
                raise StopIteration
            else:
                self.iter['tar'] = iter(self.ld_tar)

                try:
                    x, y = sample_from_target()
                except StopIteration:
                    # it is possible that there are no confident examples
                    x, y = None, None

        x_tar, y_tar = x, y

        ## merge
        if x_tar is not None:
            x = tf.concat((x_src, x_tar), 0)
            y = tf.concat((tf.cast(y_src, tf.int64), tf.cast(y_tar, tf.int64)), 0)
        else:
            x, y = x_src, y_src
        return x, y

class TargetPseudoLabeling:
    """Pseudo-labeling function, which is used only for target."""
    def __init__(self, model_base, model_conf, ld_tar, ideal=False):
        """
        model_base: a classifier
        model_conf: a confidence predictor
        ld_src: source data loader
        ld_tar: target data loader
        """

        self.model_base = model_base
        self.model_conf = model_conf
        self.ld_tar = ld_tar
        self.ideal = ideal

    def __iter__(self):
        """Initialize an iterator."""

        self.iter = iter(self.ld_tar)
        return self

    def __next__(self):
        """return the next labeled examples"""

        def sample_from_target():
            while True:
                x, y = next(self.iter)
                if len(x.shape) == 5:
                    x_tc, x_st = x[:, 0, :, :, :], x[:, 1, :, :, :]
                else:
                    x_tc, x_st = x, x
                y_pred = self.model_base(x_tc)['y_pred']
                conf = self.model_conf(x_tc) ##TODO: return dict?

                if self.ideal:
                    x_conf_i, y_conf_i, y_true_i = x_st[conf==1], y[conf==1], y[conf==1]
                else:
                    x_conf_i, y_conf_i, y_true_i = x_st[conf==1], y_pred[conf==1], y[conf==1]

                if any(conf==1):
                    break

            return x_conf_i, y_conf_i

        return sample_from_target()

class Teacher(tf.keras.Model):
    """Teacher model, which includes a pseudo-labeling function. It acts like data loaders."""
    def __init__(self, params, model_base, ds_src, ds_tar, ideal=False):
        """
        Initialize a teacher model

        params: required model parmeters
        model_base: a classifier in the keras model
        ds_src: source dataset loader, which includes train/val/test loaders
        ds_tar: target dataset loader, which includes train/val/test loaders
        idea: If True, the pseudo-labeling function returns the true labels.
        """
        super().__init__()

        self.model_base = model_base
        self.ideal = ideal
        self.model_conf = getattr(model, params.conf)(self.model_base)

        self.train = PseudoLabeling(self.model_base, self.model_conf, ds_src.train, ds_tar.train, ideal)
        self.val = TargetPseudoLabeling(self.model_base, self.model_conf, ds_tar.val, ideal) ## target only
        self.test = TargetPseudoLabeling(self.model_base, self.model_conf, ds_tar.test, ideal) ## target only

class Student(Teacher):
    """Stduent model"""
    def __init__(self, params, model_base, ds_src, ds_tar, ideal=False):
        super().__init__(params, model_base, ds_src, ds_tar, ideal)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
EPISODE #104: Big League Baseball in WWII Wartime Washington – With David Hubler & Josh Drazen
On a cold and ominous Sunday, December 7, 1941, Major League Baseball's owners were gathered in Chicago for their annual winter meetings, just two months after one of the sport's greatest seasons. For the owners, the dramatic news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor earlier that morning was not only an assault on the United States, but also a direct threat to the future of the national pastime itself.
League owners were immediately worried about the players they were likely to lose to military service, but also feared a complete shutdown of the looming 1942 season – and perhaps beyond. But with the carefully cultivated support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, organized baseball continued uninterrupted – despite numerous calls to shut it down.
Authors David Hubler and Josh Drazen (The Nats and the Grays: How Baseball in the Nation's Capital Survived WWII and Changed the Game Forever) join host Tim Hanlon to discuss the impact of World World II on the two major professional teams in Washington, DC – the American League's Senators (aka Nationals), and the Negro National League's Homestead Grays – as well as the impact of the war on big league baseball as a whole, including:
How a strong friendship between Senators owner Clark Griffith and Roosevelt kept the game alive during the war years, often in the face of strong opposition for doing so;
The continual uncertainties clubs faced as things like the military draft, national resources rationing and other wartime regulations affected both the sport and American day-to-day life; AND
The Negro Leagues' constant struggle for recognition, solvency, and integration.
PLUS: The origin of the twi-night doubleheader!
AND: The ceremonial first-pitch ambidexterity of President Harry Truman!
Show some love for the show by making a purchase from one of our great sponsors: Streaker Sports, Old School Shirts, 503 Sports, SportsHistoryCollectibles.com, and/or Audible!
The Nats and the Grays: How Baseball in the Nation's Capital Survived WWII and Changed the Game Forever - buy here
Homestead Grays classic T-shirt & low profile cap from 503 Sports - buy here
Homestead Grays classic T-shirt from OldSchoolShirts.com - buy here
In baseball Tags Washington Senators, Washington Nationals, Homestead Grays, MLB, American League, AL, Major League Baseball, NNL, Negro National League, Negro Leagues
EPISODE #99: Sports Broadcaster Bob Carpenter
You know him today as the long-time television play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals.
But before becoming one of the baseball's most admired and durable broadcasters, Bob Carpenter cut his professional teeth in the burgeoning (but ultimately fleeting) American pro soccer scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s as the lead "man-behind-the-mic" for such iconic teams as the NASL's Tulsa Roughnecks and the MISL's St. Louis Steamers – as well as some less-than-memorable ones, like 1983's ill-fated US Soccer/NASL hybrid, Team America.
His springboard into TV sports broadcasting's "big leagues" – including 15 years of nationally televised baseball with ESPN, plus lead announcing duties for the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, and his hometown St. Louis Cardinals – is rich in anecdotes, and we (naturally!) drag the versatile Carpenter back to some of the more "forgotten" stops made along the way, including:
A serendipitous segue from minor league baseball to "big time" pro soccer in Tulsa;
The Roughnecks' gritty road to the 1983 NASL title as the league's smallest-market team;
Leveraging national exposure from the NASL into soccer-centric gigs with the fledgling USA & ESPN cable networks;
The "invisible hand" of Anheuser-Busch's soccer-mad executive Denny Long & his Bud Sports production division;
Returning home to call Steamers MISL indoor games at the often-packed St. Louis Arena (aka Checkerdome); AND
Masquerading as the "local" voice of the Washington, DC-based Team America – the de facto US National Team that played as an NASL franchise.
Thanks to OldSchoolShirts.com, 503 Sports, Streaker Sports & SportsHistoryCollectibles.com for their support of this week's episode!
In baseball, soccer Tags Team America, St. Louis Steamers, Tulsa Roughnecks, NASL, MISL, North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, MLB, Major League Baseball, Washington Nationals
EPISODE #96: The National Pastime in the Nation's Capital – With Fred Frommer
We throw another chunk of firewood into our baseball hot stove this week, as we warm up with the surprisingly long and rich history of the National Pastime in the Nation's Capital with sports PR veteran Fred Frommer (You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions).
While historically smaller in population than its more industrial neighbors to its north and west, Washington, DC was regularly represented in the highest levels of baseball dating back to the earliest professional circuits – including the 1871-75 National Association's Olympics, Blue Legs, and two named the "Nationals"; two new and separate Nationals clubs in the competing Union and American Associations of 1884; and two teams each in the American Association (another Nationals in 1884; Statesmen in 1891), and early National League (yet another Nationals from 1886-89; and "Senators" from 1892-99).
But it was the creation of the American League in 1901 that solidified the city's place in baseball's top echelon, as the (second) Washington Senators launched as one of the junior circuit's "Classic Eight" charter franchises – establishing an uninterrupted presence for Major League Baseball in the District that endured for more than seven decades. (Technically, the original AL Senators stayed until 1960, when the franchise moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN to become the Minnesota Twins – only to be immediately replaced by a new expansion Senators the next season, that lasted 11 more seasons until they moved to Arlington, TX to become the Texas Rangers in 1971.)
Frommer joins host Tim Hanlon to look back on DC's deep and oddly curious relationship with baseball, including:
The Senators' often-lamentable on-field performance that entrenched Washington as "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League;"
The advent of the ceremonial Presidential season-opening "first pitch" tradition;
New York's rival "Damn Yankees;"
The Negro National League's Homestead Grays' second home; AND
Why it took 33 years for Major League Baseball to finally return to the Nation's Capital.
Thanks to our great sponsors: 503 Sports, SportsHistoryCollectibles.com, Streaker Sports, and OldSchoolShirts.com!
You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions - buy here
In baseball Tags Washington Nationals, Washington Senators, Homestead Grays, MLB, Major League Baseball, American League, AL, Negro National League, Negro Leagues