British manned space flights; an insidious threat from outer space; a man mutating into an evil alien, his human consciousness being eaten away; and a scientist - utterly anti-Establishment, courageous and cerebral - the only man who can fight it. No, not Doctor Who, but his highly distinguished predecessor, Prof Bernard Quatermass. A decade before Doctor Who first aired, the
The Quartermass Experiment was the first science-fiction TV serial produced for adults, and a
live-to-viewers BBC production, to boot. The show ran for six episodes in 1953, of which
only the first two episodes are known survive. The short sci-fi series spun off
three original sequels and
a radio drama-documentary, along with movie re-makes of the
first three series by
Hammer Films. BBC brought back live TV with a
2005 adaptation of the original 1953 series. You can watch the various series on online (in parts on Daily Motion), thanks to
fans of The British Rocket Group.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Jul 23, 2011 -
21 comments
King of the Rocket Men was the first appearance of the "atomic powered rocket flying suit" from
Republic Pictures.
The characters changed but the suit remained for
four action-packed serials. In 1949,
King of the Rocket Men starts out with a bang, or rather
a series of bangs (YT playlist), as scientists die in accidents, but science and fists save the day. Civilian researcher Commando Cody is the next hero to don the rocket pack in 1952, for 12 chapters of
Radar Men from the Moon. But when
Zombies of the Stratosphere attack that same year, Commando Cody is out sick (or something), so Larry Martin steps up to duke it out in the rocket suit (though
thin on the "zombies", the serial starred
Leonard Nemoy as a Martian). Commando Cody returned in 1953 to face the evil alien "Ruler" in
Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (
vid 1,
vid 2).
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Jul 14, 2011 -
17 comments
The Hole in the Wall [via mefi projects] is our own
interrobang's surrealistic cat story now being serialized at
Top Shelf Comics as part of their new Webcomics section, and it's definitely something special - pen & ink & watercolor adventures of two cats exploring a mysterious and dangerous underground landscape. More comics like this will be posted there depending on the popularity of this one, so if you love art, great comics, or cats, you
will want to check it out. This was a part of interrobang's
Year in Comics project, so if you fall in love with the Hole in the Wall kittehs (you will!), go have look at his other stuff, as well.
posted by taz
on May 23, 2008 -
30 comments
Life and Death: an extraordinary post from Chris Clarke about his connection to serial killer Stephen Peter Morin. His family chimes in meaningfully in the comments.
Morin's execution is often pointed to as proof of the cruelty of lethal injection.
posted by Cassford
on Apr 4, 2005 -
20 comments
I've just finished reading a copy of Larson's
Devil
in the White City sent to me by a relative who heard of my love for
Isaac's
Storm.
Devil is a biography of two men who were
central to the 1893
Chicago World's
Fair. One,
Daniel
H. Burnham would become one of the most influential architects and
city planners of the early 20th century. Burnham organized a crew of
the architectural, engineering and artistic elite including landscape artist
Frederick Law Olmstead
(famous for Central Park and Biltmore) in an effort to better the Paris
world's fair of 1889. The Chicago exposition would be profoundly
influential for American culture introducing Arabic Dance (the tune for "There's a place in France/where the naked ladies dance" was created in Chicago), the Ferris
Wheel, Shredded Wheat, and helping to settle the
Battle of the Currents
between Edison and Tesla. The fair drew a large variety of larger than
life figures including Archduke Ferdinand, Elizabeth B. Anthony, Buffalo Bill Cody and the
mostly forgotten master of self promotion
Citizen
Train.
Devil is also a biography of the man given credit for
America's first recognized serial murders, the self-named
H. H. Holmes. At the start
of the fair, Holmes changed his
modus operandi from marrying and
killing women as part of insurance and real estate scams, to running a
hotel from which an unknown number of his female tenants never checked
out. Although information on Holmes's activities is scanty, he serves
as a mirror of the utopia of civic safety created by Burnham. Larson makes the argument that the contrasts between optimisim and pessimism, well-intentioned virtue and depravity, urban utopia with a few blocks from slums, would set the tone for the 20th century.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Aug 7, 2004 -
13 comments
Daring Planet --retrofuturistic online space serial (most of it to come, but a teaser, and tons of clickable cool), by Paul Corrigan.
posted by amberglow
on Mar 19, 2004 -
7 comments
Microsoft unsympathetic toward ending serial killings.
"Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk held an extraordinary public meeting two months ago and asked the public for fresh tips. He even wrote to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, asking him to donate software to help analyze 10 years of homicide files; according to a sheriff's spokesman, Microsoft said no." => Lack of confidence in their software, or lack of a value system for MS?
posted by greyscale
on Apr 23, 2000 -
5 comments
