Hello Germs n’ Worms! It’s me again, Vivica, Merrick’s assistant. Don’t worry, I won’t bite. However, if you get out of line, I may have no choice. But, I don’t think that will be an issue. Merrick speaks rather highly of her weekly guests. Usually, this time of the week I’m otherwise occupied. However, Merrick wanted me to take the reigns this week and be your guide to Eccentrica, a place I look forward to visiting in my spare time. Reality is such an awful place and I welcome the extraordinary whenever I can have it.
Hopefully, all is well with you this evening and you’ve had an interesting week. If you have not had the chance to partake in the macabre madness this week at WordPress, you can find this week’s blog entries HERE. Tomorrow night, you are invited to join Merrick and me for our first Sinemastalgia Saturday in our Horror Hall of Fear for a retrospective of the silent classic, Nosferatu (1922).
Now, if you’ll follow me to our Sinemstalgia Room. This room is a bit different from the rest of our manor. I admit, that although I do find comfort in the shadows and darkness, a pop of color against black can be quite stunning. I’m not adverse to wearing a scarlet, deep purple or electric blue scarf now and then.
If you’d like, brew let’ a cup or perhaps mix up a glass of something interesting. Merrick enjoys some blood orange tea or a good dark roast coffee. I love coffee myself–black of course. Perhaps, you want something stronger or more unusual to fit tonight’s theme. Maybe you’d like to do something really strange like a hot-dog-flavored smoothie or perhaps whip up a Fluff n’ Nutter sandwich and throw it into the blender with some seltzer—something really bizarre! For a snack, maybe get out the old ironing board (does anyone still use those, I swear I’m so out of touch) and press yourself a grilled cheese sandwich. Anyway, once you’re settled, let’s gaze into Merrick’s kaleidoscopic portal and be taken back to this week in cult film history!
May 19
Fright Night 2 (1989)
This not-often-discussed follow-up to the 1985’s Fright Night, saw Roddy McDowell and William Ragsdale reprising their roles as Peter Vincent and Charlie Brewster. Charlie is in college and crosses paths with vampires again.
Due to Fright Night’s critical and commercial success, producer Herb Jaffe wanted a sequel. He got his wish but with a much smaller budget. While McDowell and Ragsdale returned, the rest of the cast and director Tom Holland were otherwise occupied. Holland and Chris Sarandon were busy working on Child’s Play. Stephen Geoffreys, who played Evil, hated the script and took the lead in 976-Evil instead and Amanda Bearse was working on the TV show Married With Children. Holland was replaced by Tommy Lee Wallace who reportedly sought Holland’s advice while making the film. Sarandon also visited the set during filming.
Fright Night Part 2 saw a limited release in the United States, grossed $548,231 on its opening weekend, and went on to rake in an estimated total of $3 million. Critics panned the film. Fright Night Part 2 was released for a short time on DVD in 2003 but went out of print shortly after and is now a rare collector’s item. Since then, the film hasn’t had a home video release due to rights issues and has become a common bootleg.
May 21
Grizzly (1976)
Reminiscent of the previous year’s Jaws, with the shark replaced with a bear, this film is listed as the highest-grossing independent film of the year. Also known in the U.S. as Killer Grizzly, the plot revolves around a park ranger as he tries to catch a rampaging 18 ft. grizzly bear (played by a Kodiak bear named Teddy who was actually 11 feet tall) with a taste for human flesh.
Grizzly was filmed on location in Clayton, Georgia with some locals in supporting roles. A novelization of the film by Will Collins (a pseudonym of Edwin Corley) was published the same year. Critics panned the film for being too much like Jaws.
Now, that we’ve come back to reality. I don’t know about you but I need something to distract me from it already. So, here are some facts about things we take for granted. Things that have escaped idle curiosity and facts that, once learned, we forget shortly after since they aren’t terribly important.
Random Odd Fun Facts
In most depictions in pop culture, the figure of Satan is usually red. Even dressing up for Halloween, most people going out as Old Scratch choose to wear or paint themselves red. However, at one time, Christian artwork depicted Satan as a blue angel, distinguished from the more obedient angels who were red.
Nerd is a word that entered popular use in the English lexicon from the words of the brillian writer Dr. Seuss. Best Life reports that, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, the word “nerd” appeared for the first time in Seuss’ 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo: "And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo and bring back an It-Kutch, a Preep, and a Proo. A Nerkle, a Nerd, and a Seersucker, too!" The word appeared in a Newsweek article about slang one year later. The piece reported that “nerd” was interchangeable with “drip” or “square.”
Have you ever wondered how fast signals from your brain travel to the nerve cells? According to National Geographic, the brain sends messages through billions of nerve cells and neurotransmitters up to 200 miles per hour along your nerves.
Peaches, a juicy sweet summer favorite, even for someone as dark and bitter as I, are actually members of the same family as almonds. I never would have thought!
I’m quite fond of language as you have seen from my—and Merrick’s— verbose posts. Anyway, the longest one-syllable word is “screeched.”
So, that’s it for random and completely useless knowledge that you’ll no doubt forget an hour from now.
Sources:
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, May 12). Fright Night Part 2. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:15, May 19, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fright_Night_Part_2&oldid=1223560551
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, February 18). Grizzly (film). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:26, May 19, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grizzly_(film)&oldid=1208634395
100 Totally Useless Facts That Are Too Entertaining for Words — Best Life (bestlifeonline.com)