Category Archives: outer space

action, end of the world, entertainment, halloween, haunted places, Horror, horror movie, monster movie, mysterious places, outer space, science fiction, science fiction films, suspense

TOP 5 MOVIES FOR MY HALLOWEEN VIEWING

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I have given a minute or two of thought to what I would enjoy most viewing on Halloween.  I would most definitely need to take the day off of work because this lineup would probably consume a good 10 hours.  Sacrifices must be made!  Granted this is the first of what may be a series of some of my most adored movies piled together in one marathon viewing.  These movies are what came off the top of my head at the time and can definitely be mixed and matched and replaced with other selections.  I think that makes sense.

  1.  5 Million Years To Earth – 1967 – A Hammer Films science fiction entry that postulates that some long ago Martians visited our remote ancestors and planted the seeds of intelligence in our shaggy, far removed, ancient ape-like relatives.  Is the recently uncovered spaceship located in the London underground still harboring a Martian presence?
  2. The Mummy – 1959 – This is a great one to curl up with your favorite snack and beverage and soak up the suspense.  Very entertaining and satisfying mummy on the loose tale.  Christopher Lee is mainly silent and heavily bandaged as the title character.  Peter Cushing is out to stop The Mummy’s diabolical rampage.
  3. The Fearless Vampire Killers – 1967 – Roman Polanski directed and co-starred in this hugely atmospheric comedy/horror piece about a couple of bumbling monster hunters who try to rescue a damsel who is fortified in a castle full of undead vampires.  Great sets!
  4. Horror Express – 1972 – Another Cushing/Lee vehicle set aboard a trans-Siberian train that transports an ages old ape man found frozen in ice.  The recently unearthed specimen seems to not be fully dead and can swap human hosts!  A true hoot.
  5. Invasion – 1966 – A hospital is literally held hostage as an alien presence temporarily makes a stop on Earth and has to recover its lost property before it can again go back to outer space.  It’s bad enough being in a hospital, as it is!

Like I said, I will make another list of five more films that it would be Heaven to just spend Halloween day watching back to back.  Maybe I’ll defer it until Thanksgiving or Christmas.  I’ve got time off then.  Check some of these films out and enjoy!

 

 

action, comic books, end of the world, entertainment, fantastic television, FAntasy films, Horror, mysterious places, outer space, scary tv, science fiction, science fiction films, star trek

HARLAN ELLISON – R.I.P.

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Legendary science fiction and fantasy writer Harlan Ellison has passed away.  Call him an iconoclast, outspoken, a larger than life character who didn’t suffer fools, especially those he felt tampered with the integrity of his work.  He reached a settlement with CBS 40 years after his script for “Star Trek”-TOS, “City on the Edge of Forever” had been delivered to reclaim his share of the profits generated from his work.  He had more impressions on the television industry collected in his series “The Glass Teat”.  Acidic observations to say the least.

I count Ellison as an early influence in my life.  He was outrageous, profane, and definitely embodied a punk sensibility.  He didn’t take shit from anybody and let the world know it.  When I was maybe a teen or 12 years old, the years recede rapidly, I found out that Ellison would be in town at a book store reading from his latest work.  I got my dad to bring me down there and crowded in to the small store to be in the Man’s presence.  He read from his book and the profanity flowed.  It felt a little awkward with my dad there but he understood the content much better than I could hope to!  A good memory.

I highly recommend the novella “I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream”.  I reread it recently and it retains its nightmarish hold.  The idea has been a source of inspiration through the years.   Call it “Skynet” before it was known as such.  You’ll see what I mean.

Harlan Ellison was a great and influential writer.  Go find his stuff and enjoy!

documentaries, FAntasy films, mysterious places, outer space, outer space sounds, science fiction, science fiction films

“A Dream Come True” – (1963)

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Twisted Russian fantasy film depicting a manned trip to Mars.  Propagandistic in tone in that Russian technology is capable of any space voyage/adventure in these films (see “Planeta Burg”) but the reality is that there was a long record of Russian space mission failures.  It seems that the plot formula in a lot of these films is that the homeland’s advanced technology delivers men to the Moon, Mars, and The Stars, but once there, things become unraveled and life or death situations materialize.  A drama is thus born.  There are no shortage of beautiful and eerie landscapes rendered in shockingly vivid color of the mysterious planet’s surface and a collection of weird, atmospheric synthesizer soundscapes of chirps and bleeps to accompany the strange sights.

The visuals, at times, remind me of Mario Bava’s “Planet of the Vampires”.  Not too shabby, in my book!

Break out the vodka and make it the main feature at your next movie night!

music, mysterious places, outer space, space mysteries, unexplained phenomena

Music Of The Spheres – Alien Composed?

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I recommend this Top Ten List of Strange Space Noise recorded over the years by scientists and researchers.  Marvel at the mutterings of an actual Black Hole!  Hear the astonishing sonic wash of space telemetry (Brief Interruption Here.  Here is an explanation of Space Telemetry:  Data Transmission Space telemetry transmits information in the form of a radio signal. Sensors on the spacecraft collect analog data–a photograph of Mars for example–and send it back to Earth. Early space telemetry systems used Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to transmit data.) in all its glory!  You get the idea.  There was an audio CD set released some years back that offered NASA’s recordings of similar Sounds From Space.  There were four CD’s in the set!  But it was pretty cool stuff.  You might be hard pressed to recreate some of the sounds with a synthesizer.  Wonder what ever happened to it?  Maybe the Deep Space creators silently invaded my space and took it away from my undeserving hands.

mystrious places, outer space

North American Solar Eclipse 2017 and Coming Attractions

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The first total solar eclipse viewable in North America since 1918 is rapidly approaching.  It ought to be quite the event.  Social media will explode with every conceivable view, angle and personal reflection of those who view it.  So, don’t worry if you are unable to participate.  You’re covered!

But are there any other astral events lurking in deep space that may influence our planet and its very existence?  Speculation always abounds:  The Good , The Bad, The Ugly.  Check out this video which references concerns about the rogue Planet X or Nibiru.

Is there anything to this concern?  We’ll soon see.  But make sure you wear your protective glasses.

action, FAntasy films, horror movie, outer space, science fiction

PREDATOR – “BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUNS!”

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It is the week of the Fourth of July.  Why not round out the week by enjoying some glorious, cinematic firepower brought to you by “Predator” (1987).  This is a favorite scene of mine from this alien on the loose science fiction classic.  Nice gun play and explosions at the expense of the jungle.  The rainforest was never the same after this.

fantastic television, mysterious places, outer space, scary tv

ALIENS EXIST ON THE MOON – UFO DOCUMENTARY – 2015

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Some ideas never seem to go away.  Over 40 years ago, there was a book documenting strange anomalies seen in NASA photographs of the Moon’s surface.  Some of the images originated from orbital surveyors, others were taken during Apollo missions to the Moon’s surface.  I have to say that some of the things supposedly seen by acute observers of unusual structures and objects on the Moon stretch credibility and take a good bit of imagination to visualize.  And then there are other images, still and motion, which are hard to figure out what the heck they are.  Anyway, here is a documentary which pours over some of these ’60’s era artifacts along with more recent visuals delivered from the surface of Mars by our rovers, Google Moon images, more NASA footage of UFOs in Outer Space, etc.  Seeing is believing or at least wondering if there could be something to these claims of aliens in our midst all these years.

 

documentaries, outer space, paranormal, science fiction

OVERLORDS OF THE UFO – 1976 – BOSS!

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Until Ken Burns comes around to create the definitive UFO documentary, whet your appetite for extraterrestrial visitation speculation with this 1970’s compendium of still photos, film footage and witness interviews. A lot of zooming and panning across still images of alien abductions and weird encounters taking place are in full representation in this film.  Very serious narration bolsters the claims of pilots, military personnel and civilians that they have been in the presence of other worldly beings and craft.  Nice, electronic music flourishes, combined with canned orchestral passages provide the musical bed for this piece.  It all has a very ’70’s feel which can be attractive or repulsive according to your tastes.  For a historical refresher course on the state of UFO research up until the 1970’s, this one is worth checking out.  But be warned that the film’s mellow pace may lull you to sleep as well.

 

haunted places, music video, outer space

VAN DER GRAAF (GENERATOR) – “PIONEERS OVER C” – LIVE

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Glorious, orchestrated rock tune from Van Der Graaf Generator.  I placed “Generator” in parentheses in the title because at this stage of the band’s career, they had decided to abbreviate their title.  Anyway, “Pioneers” is an epic composition highlighted by Peter Hamill’s vocals which alternate between mournful wail and guttural snarls.  Hammill possesses a truly unique voice in rock.  Rob Halford of Judas Priest learned a few tricks from Hamill’s approach it would appear.  I like the powerful, effects laden bass guitar.  When I first purchased this live set, “Vital” on audio cassette(!!! I date myself), I felt the bass was overdone but it has grown on me through the years.  Pretty unique sounding instrument.  Fine string and woodwind accents contribute as well to a rich sonic soup in which Hammill spins his yarn of a group of astronauts hopelessly lost in some outer space no man’s land with no chance of ever returning home.  “Pioneers Over C” is a fabulous and multi layered melancholic suite.  I only wish we could have witnessed the actual performance and didn’t have to depend on the album/CD/record cover as our only visual for a 16 minute time span!  Boring!  But this piece of music is definitely not boring.