Friday Check In

Boss, I can relate to the whole "summer slipping away" thing. It's been a blur. Lately a hot blur. 103 in the shade on the back deck today. But that's not unusual here this time of year. You plan your day accordingly. Lots of reading, watching movies and other indoor activities.

Other than that, my son and daughter in law managed to catch "The Vid" again. We weren't exposed and they've been in hiding for the past 6 days. All is well and they should be back to normal in a few more days.

After most of 3 years of retirement, I'm about to reach full benefit age. That means yet another round of paperwork to be submitted and decisions to make. It was a pretty straight forward process and won't make much difference in our lifestyles.

My wife wants me to thin out my various "collections". She's probably right. Most of that stuff is still packed away and doesn't actually serve any purpose at this point. So, I'll start sorting through and sending some things to my kids and grandkids. The rest of the less sentimental things will be liquidated through various connections and maybe a few things on Ebay. The sentimental things, mostly books, will be earmarked as a second round of gifts, once I make that inevitable trek to Valhalla. Hopefully many years in the future. Yes, I'm still insufferably healthy for my age at this point. Doing cardio 5 days a week and weight training 3 days.


Sorry for not checking in more regularly, but life has been pretty mundane lately.

Be safe, be well and be happy,
Space

Hidy Ho Folks,

checking in from my lost summer. Its been so busy I have lost all track of time. We have been all over, done tons of fun things got into plenty of shenanigans and generally enjoyed life.

Soon as it slows down I can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Hope everyone is having a good summer.

Stay safe my friends....

Seamus

Boss, I can totally relate. This place has always slows down during the summer. Most of us tend to be more outdoor and adventure oriented during the warm season.

Same ol' same ol' here too. River adventures on a boat or kayak. Plus lots of various small adventures and explorations. I won't mention the shenanigans, as that's a given. Nothing over the top so far. But, there's always tomorrow.

Be safe, be well and be happy,
Space

Howdy Folk's. Here's another sporadic check-in. But not much to report. Life continues, with explorations and celebrations being the major events around our house. Tomorrow, my son and I will be attending a pretty impressive classic car show. We're still considering finding one to restore. The prices on those things are getting ridiculous. Even prices for 60's family and economy cars seem downright silly. But we haven't given up.

We have a clump of family birthdays going on right now, including my own. According to my kids, I'm now officially an old fart. Of course we're also moving steadily into the holiday season. Or as I call it, "The season of melting plastic". This ain't gonna be pretty.

The oldest grandson has completed his Renaissance Fair costume. He did pretty good, but I've explained that he might wanna drop the white hooded cloak that's a part of it. It's a bit too close for comfort in appearance to another hooded cloak from the past. I may post a pic or two of him in costume later.

That's about it. As I said, not much exciting going on right now.

Be safe, be well and be happy,
Space

So, I asked a few respectful questions of an admin on a Farcebook Sci-Fi page and they tried to make me an admin...

Then I posted links to free sources, for the reprints of stories from pulp magazines in public domain which they're selling and got banned.

Now I can't decide which one of us is the a$$hole!

Space, the coin toss here in Greater Melville, home of the Jump, Jive and Whale Room, has consistently come up tails. So it's unanimous: You are not the rectally challenged. Congratulations.
Jeff

Whale, I try to be objective. But my hindsight is 20/20 while my foresight is 50/50 at best. Must be these glasses. I asked my wife to set me up with an appointment to get my eyes checked. (She's in charge of that kinda stuff). I followed the directions to get to the appointment and found myself sitting in front of a psychiatrist. I tried to explain that some sort of mistake must have been made. He said, "No, she was very sure that you need to have your head examined." I started cracking jokes and he tried to check me into a "special" hospital. We're still working out the details, but it sounds kinda nice.

WOW!!! That had to be my lamest comeback ever.

Lads, I see the banter here I C IT with my own peepers. Ah the smell of good banter in the air on what should be a crisp fall day but is a nice and warm day.

Still busy but slowing down to coast sideways into a tail slide wrecking both me and the car.

Lets talk Halloween movies. Come on lads, guide me out of The Fog its getting close to Halloween or some kind of Hocus Pocus. I ain't from Sleepy Hollow....

Boss, I have a list of Halloween movies to peruse annually. But given my penchant for cornball movies, Spaced Invaders has become my go to favorite. It's a kind of "Night That Scared America" parody with lots of silly twists. It's a complete cheese fest for cheesy movie lovers.



Low quality, but you can watch it here.

Those look like good choices to have a look at. I know have posted my extensive list of Halloween movies. I have all of mine on DVD or Blueray. I don't like to stream my Halloween.

I just added Eerie Indiana which is off the wall funny. Added Sapphire and Steel a 1980's Brit Sci-fi show and series 2 is the spookiest stuff you will ever see on TV. I have plenty of others I can't remember right now. I just got a whole bunch of John Carpenter movies as well. And the original Salems Lot Tv movie.

Maybe Jeff can wind in with some reviews.

Stay safe and happy my friends.

Oh, man, do I have some recommendations. Spoiler Alert: You might not have heard of some of these, but depending on your likes, you're in for a treat.  I'll categorize them for you, since I've been bingeing on burning discs for the summer since with Joyce bedridden now we can't travel.  In the immortal words of Little Jack Little, here 'tis. .  .

MODERN WEIRDNESS
*Gatlopp, Hell of a Game* (2022) A group of friends reunite and end up playing an obscure board game, which they must play to completion before dawn or they have to play it for all eternity. . . in hell! (Terrific comedy blend of *Jumanji* and relational conflicts bound by secrets.

*The Sonata (2018) Freya Tingley (nice name) is Rose, classical violinist and daughter of mad genius composer Rutger Hauer (in his last role before his death), attempts to play his final composition: a haunting and haunted piece that leads Rose on a supernatural set of suspense and slow spookiness.

*Superhost* (2000) A young couple of b'n'b videographers end up being tormented by a psychotic (but strangely effusive) owner hell-bent on receiving a good review. Funny, bloody and a star turn from the b'n'b owner.

*The Babysitter, 1 and 2 (Killer Queen)(1997 and 2000 respectively)  Samara Weaving plays the titular hot babysitter who is the PERFECT friend to young Cole. . . until she's not. One of the few comedy horror films I've seen that is both cheesy and expertly directed by McQ, who actually extends the manic energy and storyline in the sequel.  Two of my all=time favorite chillers with a wry sense of humor and meta references.  

*Vampire's Kiss (1989) This one is so over-the-top it's classic. Two words: Nicholas Cage. A publishing executive thinks he's turning into a vampire after being bitten by a woman. Cage has seldom been this unhinged, actually eating a cockroach (three takes were done) and lurching around NY at night wearing plastic fangs while spitting, "I'm a vampire I'm a vampire. . ." while wary pedestrians look on. A terrible movie made completely of gorgonzola, but all the more fun because of it.

*Becky and The Wrath of Becky (2000 and 2003 respectively). How about a home invasion film offering Kevin James (*The King Of Queens*) as the murderous intruder?  Bizarro films with a weird nod to *John Wick*.

Look, Boss and Space, I didn't say these were Oscar worthy, but I have a lot of fun with these.  And now for something completely different. . . .

CLASSIC CHEESE-A-THON from the 1950s and 1960s
*She Demons (1958) Irish McCalla's film debut after her successful run as *Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle* on TV.

*Attack Of The Puppet People (1958) Classic mad professor-shrinking-nice-people-for-his-evil-gains thriller.

*King Of The Zombies (1942) and Revenge Of The Zombies (1943) Two classics with Mantan Moreland, the former with Dick Purcell and the latter with John Carradine and Gale Storm.

*Mario Brava's Black Sunday (1960) with Barbara Steele. Your typical vengeful witch returning from the grave to wreak havoc thriller from Italy.

*And Now The Screaming Starts (1973) Peter Cushing and Stephanie Beacham, Herbert Lom, Ian Ogilvy and Patrick Magee--hoowah!  A newlywed moves into her husband's castle only to face the wrath of an ancient curse. The English do it up right.

Oh, I have more, but we've still got a couple weeks before Halloween, so I'll quit here.  

Enjoy, Cobaltia. Bwaaa haa haa haa haaaaa.
Jeff

Jeff, for some reason, the bottom of your list made me wanna start binge watching Dark Shadows, from the very first episode.

Need me some Barnabas Collins and friends.

Great fun, Space. My sister has the entire run of the series, packaged in a tidy little coffin. I envy her.  Maybe I can buy it from her. I used to race home from school so I could watch the questionable acting and high camp every weekday at 4:00.  Angelique (Lara Parker) still provokes a Pavlovian response from me.

But one of my favorite bits was when Barnabas (Jonathan Frid, who actually sent me a requested signed autograph back in the '60s) didn't know he was on camera and was caught picking his nose while Dr. Julia tried to ignore it.  Funnier than falling nude into a cactus.
Jeff

Jeff happy to report I have seen most of those movies you show. The old movie channel we have here plays loads of creature feature and old sci-fi movies 24hrs a day. I have caught some brilliantly bad movies that are great now due to cheese factor.

Please throw on more recommendations its starting to feel like the old days in here. I ain't crying you're crying....

Getting close to Halloween folks. I am watching Halloween shows all day every day. I have started back in watching the Sleepy Hollow show which was very good for the first 2 seasons. I am watching my 31 Halloween movies at one a day and throwing in shows around that.

Listening to my fave Gildy Halloween shows and the Aldrich Family plus Life of Reilly such hilarious Halloween episodes.

New Halloween content is sparse this year. Though I am enjoying the new Goosebumps limited series.

Whats on the list for you folks?

With Halloween coming, I'm just finishing listening to all my episodes of The Hermit's Cave. And, of course, that got me down the rabbit hole of picking up some old research for a very messy log of the show to try to figure out some broadcast dates. (Only a little but of luck on that front). Not my favorite show, but fun to listen to for October.

I'll probably move on to The Witch's Tale or Lights Out next as we approach Halloween.

mjnunes84 wrote:

I'll probably move on to The Witch's Tale or Lights Out next as we approach Halloween.

Right now, I'm doing selected Suspense episodes. Next will be Lights Out. I'm also watching a lot of The Outer Limits. Next up, Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Happy Halloween folks. I am 30 movies down and more to go. Averaging 3 a day. Went through John Carpenters catalog. All the faves watched. And a lot of older TV shows. Tonight its keep the dog calm when the fireworks go off.

Whats everyone else watching?

Stay safe and Trick or Treat....

Fireworks for Halloween? That's one I hadn't heard before. I have no real plans for tonight. Pretty much burned myself out on horror and suspense over the past couple of weeks. Probably just an anime marathon with my grandson. With lots of unhealthy snacks of course. I might even break out the good coffee too. We just received a couple pounds of Kona beans from my dealer. Now that I think about it, I've got time to get to my favorite Chinese restaurant for a sack of various egg rolls to go... later...

Space

Hey Folks,

is everyone getting ready for Christmas? have you started playing the Cinnamon Bear? when my daughter was small we used to listen to that every night up to Christmas. Great show.

Catch me up folks whats everyone up too? Space any shenanigans? Jeff whats the latest movie list?

I sure hope everyone is watching the Doctor Who specials they have been really good.

Stay safe and happy holiday season to everyone at the ol' CC

Howdy Boss. Nope no shenanigans lately. Trying to act "my age" as they say. Which probably looks hilarious from the outside. I still manage to stay in or near the dog house most of the time. Speaking of which, we adopted a German Shepard mix. Six months old from a shelter and absolutely amazing. He almost seems to understand commands the first time they're given. And he has the most comical personality. He'll fit right in with this pile o' nuts.

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy sport shooting (not hunting). I've also mentioned that I'm trimming down my various hobby collections. Mostly comics and vintage video games. The income from this has been far more than I expected. My beloved, "She Who Must Not Be Angered", has generously permitted me to purchase my first two antique rifles with part of the proceeds. An 1893 model Mauser and a 1940's M1 Garand. Now we have to have tests run on both, in order to determine if they're safe to fire. I expect a few curious looks, once we take them to the range.

Other than that, we're slowly sliding into the cold season. Our temps dropped to below freezing for the first time this year this morning. Not looking forward to cold rainy days, which I know are coming. My grandson and I will be exploring the world of 3D printing this winter, among other projects and hobbies.

Boss, my almost 16 year old grandson has gotten in to Doctor Who. Happily, all complete seasons of the first seven doctors are available for free streaming on Tubi. I have no idea who might have influenced him to be a D&D playing, Doctor Who loving, anime/manga/comic book obsessed retro gamer.


There's quite a bit more going on as well. But those are some of the highlights. I hope everyone is doing well and are ready for the holiday season.

Be safe, be well and be happy,
Space

Space,

I hear you I have recently been trimming down my collections. Cars and bikes were sold off as it had become ludicrous (The way I like it) I am down to the essentials cars and bikes I restored with my Dad and daughter. She has picked her stuff. Comes a time when you just see things differently. Oh I am still puttering and we have way too much stuff but now we can count them on two hands.

Those guns sound interesting and sport shooting and target shooting is a good way to spend a day.

I have a very nice 3D printer so that is a lot of fun. I have been playing around with arduino for years building devices and robots and i print the parts for them. I will want to see what you come up with.

Your dog sounds fab, it ain't a home until you have a furball to play with. No truer friend can you have.

Yes cooler and rainy here not cold, cold but enough you need a rain coat and warmer clothes.

We get the new Doctor tomorrow. They brought David Tennant back for the specials and tomorrow we get the new guy who looks awesome. With the Disney money the Tardis is now amazing. So very happy I have that and the xmas special coming.

Ah its all fun....

Greetings, my dear friends. With the holidays quickly coasting in, things are busy here in Michigan. Temps are customarily fluctuating--today it was supposed to hit 50, though nights are tremulously cold, and the snow has dissipated to crusty grass.

Like you, Space and Boss, my collections are overgoing (or undergoing or under done) some renovations: My comics are (kinda) slowing their roll, though I have found some solace in buying CGC registered 9.8s, 9.9s and 10s. But the movie and TV collecting is moving into hyperdrive: Having made it through the complete seasons of *The Flash*, "Supergirl*, *Arrow* and *DC's Legends Of Tomorrow* (which is wonderful if you never deign to take it seriously for one iota), we just finished the eleven-episode series *Haunted*, which was canceled before it met its potential; *Playing House* a really great comedy with Jessica St. Clair, Lennon Parham and Keenan-Michael Key; *My Life Is Murder*, three seasons of a really fun detective series in New Zealand and Australia starring Lucy Lawless (hubba hubba); plus all the holiday cooking shows.

Joyce is new totally bed-bound, but she's been home for 260+ straight days from the hospital and relishing no return engagements. So I'm lucky enough to be her caregiver (and no, I'm not being sarcastic--I love my wife and hold very true to the "in sickness and health" vow), which keeps us warm and home. . . ALTHOUGH for Thanksgiving our younger son and his wife made a wondrous feast for us to enjoy, then the next day he and I trucked down to Detroit to meet up with our elder son and his fiancee to see AL GREEN at the Fox, while our daughter-in-law watched over Joyce for the evening.

Such a wonderful evening: Dinner out at a really elegant restaurant on Livernois (I hate oysters and mushrooms but fell in love with the fried mushrooms and oysters served as an appetizer), then a cold walk to the Fox where Al sang his heart out and threw roses to the audience for an hour before he had to say good night. His health, at 77, is a little shaky, but he smile and song stylings still heated up the cavernous room, even as he sat in a chair for most of the concert.

So glad to hear the grandson is a Whovian. We don't get BBC America with our cable service, but I did find the new Doctor Christmas show ("Legend of the Sea Devils") on the download; eager to watch it.

On the movie front:
*The Holdovers* (2023) with Paul Giamiatti (measured but rewarding Christmas show; liked it)
*Violent Night (2022) Christmas a'la *Die Hard* with David Harbor as a vengeful Santa; also *Fatman* which is similar with a Mel Gibson vengeful Santa (both funny)
*The Ref (1994) Still a classic Christmas viewing
And if you ask She Who Must Be Obeyed. . . any Hallmark Christmas movie with Lacy Chabert (or as I lovingly refer to her "Lacey Sherbert" or "Lacy Sourbet"), Nikki DeLoach or Ashley Williams and her sister Stephanie Paisley-Williams. I fear I must leave the room when some other generic Hallmarkians simper and weep about Christmas miracles before the camera pans to the snow-riddled sky. . . . At times I feel my diabetes numbers rocketing with the "sweetness."

Christmas will be here with the whole family, sans the physical presence of my best Cobaltian buddies--but you guys are here in my heart (was that too Hallmark-inspired? I can't tell anymore as my steady diet of said channel has altered my real life, hence my reliance on the occasional dose of "alternate" holiday fare (Sitting in the wings is the entire series plus the Halloween episode of *Psychoville*, a show I'm going into blindly).

Now that I've unloaded like Ma Findley's prize unmilked cow, Amaretto-Jean, I'll sigh contentedly here, knowing Cobalt continues to thrive in good hands.
Cheers,
Jeff

Jeff, I'm happy to hear that Joyce has avoided any backward motion. Enjoy all of the quality time you can. Savor every moment.

Boss, you said Ludicrous... Ha HA HA HA HA Ha HA HA HA HA Ha HA HA HA HA Ha HA HA HA HA Ha HA HA HA HA Ha HA HA HA HA !!!