Dark Shadows Beginnings -- A Review

I'm way behind in my new comic reading.  And I'm making slow progress thru some of my more recent hard cover acquisitions.  The reason?  Too much TV (as always).  How can that be when all the CW comic-related shows (including the excellent Riverdale) are on winter hiatus and the Marvel Netflix shows are all but done (sob)?  Amazon Prime.  Or rather, the free streaming shows available on that service.  It all started around Halloween when looking for something spooky to watch, I viewed the Dan Curtis Production of Frankenstein (1973).  It reminded me of Dark Shadows.  I then caught the film-quality version of Dan Curtis' Bram Stoker's Dracula (also 1973) with Jack Palance, who if you believe the internet was the inspiration for Gene Colan's depiction of the character in the Marvel Comic.

After a few more Dan Curtis classics(?) such as a werewolf in LA and a zuni doll from Trilogy of Terror (filled with plenty of jump-scares), I decided to delve back into watching Dark Shadows.  I became a fan of the show over a quarter of a century ago around the time I got married.  It was on the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) Channel (back when it contained good material) where they aired at least two episodes back-to-back, I think around 10:00 am (after the Six Million Dollar Man or Incredible Hulk).  I had seen odd episodes here and there, but this was the first time I recall making a concerted effort to watch the series regularly.  I remember seeing much of the late 1860's story line, where Barnabas' consciousness enters his entombed body during that time and meets the "real" life Quentin (I think to deal with the music-appearing spook version from 1968 [then present day]).

I even got a few books on the series back then celebrating its 25th anniversary, so I read synopses of most of the episodes.  After all, how could anyone watch them all?  Back when MPI was issuing video tape versions, each one was about $30 each and contained a week's worth of shows, meaning only five 22 minute episodes.  That's quite an expense when you understand that there were 1225 episodes!  Enter Amazon Prime.  A search will show you that they have divided the series into 26 "collections" of around 40 episodes each.  As a daily [Gothic-horror] soap-opera (did I forget to mention that?) there were no yearly seasons as we understand them, which means they just broke them up into roughly even chunks that stop whenever, not necessarily at the end of a major story arc.

Picking up roughly where I had left off in the mid-1990's (and possibly later as my older kids remember watching some of the show with me at times - maybe from the library?), I began watching Collection 17, episode 27 (#884 or sequentially #873), which originally aired on 1969 November 13.  This means I was viewing it almost exactly 49 years later!  (The episode numbers don't always add up due to interruptions and them always wanting the Friday episode with the bigger cliff-hanger to be a multiple of 5.)  It was a show that I could watch by myself, when others are watching This is Us or Call the Midwife.  But a funny thing happened.  My 10-year old son, "Manny" (Matthew Jr.) started watching it with me.  He enjoyed it enough that he got upset if I watched it without him (shades of Netflix show viewing with my beloved wife)!  So, I waited, and waited.  Our progress became too slow for my purposes.  I kept watching with him  -- we're currently thru Collection 20, episode 15 (#996 or sequentially #981), which originally aired on 1970 April 20 (nearly a month before my birth!).  We've seen the entire Leviathan story-line and have entered into 1970 Parallel Time.

I didn't like having nothing to watch when he wasn't available (or willing), so I went back to the beginning.  Specifically as it is listed on Amazon -- Dark Shadows Beginnings.  It's a six-part collection that includes the first 206 episodes (thru #209), spanning from 1966 June 27 to 1967 April 14.  All of these precede the first appearance of Barnabas Collins (at least in person).  You may question the need to view the episodes before things "got interesting".  Well, I'm here to tell you (after an extremely long-preamble/warm-up exercise), that there are plenty worth watching.  It's OUTSTANDING!!!

But where to begin...How 'bout the way each episode does:

"My name is Victoria Winters..." 

[more after the break]

Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” as presented by the Oakland Mills High School (OMHS) Theatre Arts Program on 2013 Nov 08 – A Review (of sorts) and a Personal Reflection

I continue to weep.

It’s 0330 on a Saturday morning and tears have been streaming down my face to my pillow for some time now.  I’ve finally determined that the best course of action is to get my thoughts down on “paper” as we used to say (and do).  The impact of last night’s play performance at two of my children’s high school in Columbia, Maryland is still in full effect.  The best compliment I can make to the cast and the production staff is that they brought Wilder’s work to life and moved me deeply. 

This review/reflection may be a bit of a ramble as I try to sort out what I’m feeling and as is often the case on this site there will be SPOILERS.  What is a theatre review doing on a (now generally dormant) blog about comic books?  Well, our blog title does include the phrase “And Other Imaginary Tales”.  And as the playbill blatantly declares, Our Town is a “fictional town”.

A Victorious Smile

Hi, everyone.  I'm on Spring Break this weekend, spending time back home in Virginia to celebrate Easter with my family.  So, I have a special Easter-themed message today.  It's the kind that doesn't involve bunny rabbits or chocolate, so if that sounds offensive to you, then please read no further.  I plan to talk about comics next week.

One Week Ago

Beneath the earth, the burgundy Ford Escort Wagon is reflected in the ceiling tiles of the lighted tunnel, when suddenly the enclosed tube is replaced with the magnificent cityscape of downtown Pittsburgh just after midnight.

Yep. That was what I was doing exactly one week ago (since this post usually goes up at 12:01 a.m.)

The journey to that moment is a story unto itself, which began nearly 24-hours prior…when my two oldest children (girl age 13 and boy age 12) returned (around 1:30 a.m.) from visiting Kings Dominion (for Kingsfest) with our church youth group. I wasn’t up when they arrived, but my wife was there to hear about all the excitement and how my son had finally conquered his fear of roller coasters by mastering the Intimidator’s 305 foot drop! I was off that Friday, because my wife and I were actually going to take a weekend getaway (just us) to Pittsburgh to see ApologetiX record their new album, Soundproof. We were to leave around 11:00 a.m. at the latest.

A few hours later, we hear my son retching in his bathroom. My wife nudges me to check on him. He’s already walking back to his room by the time I get there. “Motion sickness” he says.

Throughout the night he continues to have some episodes, but then around 6:30 a.m. the wailing begins. It’s my daughter. Now she feels like she’s going to throw-up. Unlike my son who can get it out of his system almost immediately, my daughter holds it in for a long while, prolonging her agony. “Food poisoning” – possibly from a Chick-fil-a milkshake while at the park is our conclusion. Of course, just thinking about someone being sick to their stomach generates sympathetic rumblings in your own tummy. “I don’t feel so good,” says my wife.

At this point I’m starting to really get discouraged about our weekend for two. I take the younger four out to gas up the van and get camera batteries just in case we can still go. When I return my wife, who is now resting in bed hoping to feel better, tells me that her Mom is still willing to come up and watch the kids so we can leave. I go out again to gas up the Escort (at a BP where it was a few cents cheaper) and I even do something totally out of character for me…I check the tire pressure: Passenger-front; 32 psi – a little low. Passenger-rear; 25 psi – way low. Driver-front; 22 psi – super low. Driver-rear; 34 psi – perfect. No wonder riding in my car makes everyone sick. I top everything off to an even 34 psi and head home where my wife informs me that she’s just thrown up five times. “Stomach Flu”.

She’s already called her mother and told her not to come, but she still wants me to go. We had already bought our concert tickets and booked a non-refundable hotel stay in Monroeville. I decide to take my eight-year old daughter, because the 10-year old can better help out with the little ones while I’m gone. First, I needed to feed the kids who can still stomach food lunch before I could leave. Meanwhile, the 10-year old is starting to get a little listless. I ask the eight-year old repeatedly if she feels sick in any way and she assures me she’s fine and ready to go. We leave at 12:25 p.m.

About 15-minutes later and approximately 15-miles down Interstate 70 the eight-year old pukes in my car in the backseat. “I’m fine with staying home now, “ she says weakly. After returning home and cleaning the car (lots and lots of peanuts from lunch), I ask my wife if she’s sure she still wants me to go. I’m about ready to give up on the weekend plans anyway. Wonderful woman that she is, she encourages me to take the trip.

So, I’m back on the road around 1:16 p.m. With a four-hour trip that should put me in Wexford, PA around 5:30 p.m, which will give me plenty of time to grab some dinner before the show. When I hit Frederick I see that I-70 is a parking lot ahead of me. Fearing that I could be stuck for hours, I exit onto US 340 and turn around to head up US 15 north toward the Turnpike. Now, I could have taken US 40 out to I-70 further down the road, but for some reason I didn’t want to do that. After all from my recollection the turnpike runs fairly horizontal along the bottom of Pennsylvania, right?

I’m a half-hour north of Gettysburg when I start to get concerned about the signs to Harrisburg. That can’t be right. I pull over and glance at the atlas, discovering that I’m on a course that will take me way out of the way. I head up a smaller road to Carlisle. It’s a beautiful town founded in 1751, but I’m too worried about my timetable to enjoy it much. I finally make it to the Turnpike. When I start seeing signs to Breezewood, I remember that it’s about 2 hours to Pittsburgh from there. Now, that should put me at the concert around 6:45 p.m.!

For the most part the driving was easy, even though I couldn’t stop for food or bathroom breaks. I hit some big thunderstorms just outside of Pittsburgh and my wipers were still on by the time I hit the church parking lot at 7:00 p.m, leaving me only 30 minutes before the scheduled start time. It wasn’t too crowded and I even got a front-row seat.

The concert itself was awesome. They were recording 18 songs (14 new and four older ones with revised lyrics, including parodies of Pink Floyd, Billy Joel, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Neil Young, KISS, etc.). It was acoustic, sounded great, and when they had to go back and replay a part there were plenty of jokes. After the show I delivered some Fantastic Four comics for my friend’s daughter, picked up a tie-dye T-shirt, and chatted until the church kicked out the non-essentials (those not tearing down the equipment) around 11:30 p.m.


I wanted to see downtown, so I got directions and headed south (eating two biscuits I’d packed for the trip), making my way in and out of the Fort Pitt tunnel to see the city lights. Even if my camera had a wider-angle lens (and my hands were free), it still would have been inadequate for capturing the whole view. It reminded me of my old nighttime travels around Atlanta during college spring breaks. Finally, I ended up in my hotel around 12:30 a.m., turning in after catching up on my daily Bible reading.

I was back on the road (sans breakfast) by 7:30 a.m. and made good time to Breezewood and then decided to go home via Gettysburg and route 30. It added an extra hour to the trip, was much more mountainous than I had anticipated, but the scenery was certainly beautiful. (Incidentally, I saw a really strange sign labeled “Artistry in Motion”. I was trying to figure out what it meant when I saw the chrome female silhouette on the side of the all white no-windows structure.)

I arrived home just after lunchtime and my plate was still warm in the refrigerator. Everyone was on the mend (all had succumbed to the stomach flu except for the 21 month old), but it wouldn’t be until the late afternoon when the kids really felt well enough to start arguing with one another again. I was all excited, talking about the songs and the trip, when my wife finally reminded me that she’d just been through a really rough 24-hours, was disappointed that she’d missed the show too, and really didn’t want to hear anything more about it right then.

Now that she’s feeling better, she can at least enjoy the recording I made of the show to tied me over until the CD comes out. So much for our weekend away though.

The Naming of Sleds

WE INTERRUPT THE REGULARLY SCHEDULED POST (sorry Matthew) FOR THIS IMPORTANT EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT. IT’S SNOWING…again. THE “CLIMATE-CHANGE” CHALLENGING WINTER OF 2009-2010 CONTINUES TO MAKE HISTORY (in Maryland at least). THIS IS A BIG ONE FOLKS, UP TO XX INCHES !!!*

For the benefit of our dear readers who are experiencing warmer temperatures and less fluffy white stuff, we will try to give you a taste of what you’ve been missing around here…

Yesterday, my youngest daughter asked me to go sledding with her. Reluctantly, I acquiesced primarily because it wasn’t too cold. We had a BLAST! Living next to the local elementary school has its benefits, especially during a snowy winter – you see there are some really steep hills around here. It really fascinated me what a large number of sledding devices we had accumulated this season. Even more intriguing was the fact that each “sled” had it’s own unique name.

Pictured below is each sled, ranked from best to less according to a recent rider’s poll (my son). To further enhance your experience we offer a short video clip of the top four sleds in action (from the rider’s perspective)**. Enjoy!

1. Record Breaker: This vintage metal/wood Yankee Clipper sled is fast and steady. Due to its extra weight, it’s the fastest sled and travels the furthest. This sled was left hanging in the garage of our new house, just waiting for a chance at GLORY again.





2. Speedy: This brand new foam sled is the second fastest (and the fastest of the non-metal sleds). It is also equipped with a reign, which allows you to snow board (so I’m told – I still remember when I broke my femur in 4th grade and am NOT about to try it).





3. Beast: This small plastic toboggan was found abandoned and forlorn on the sledding hill. While not as fast as “Speedy”, it’s fun factor is fueled by its uncontrollability, always giving the rider a surprise turn at the end of the run. Those who manage not to fall off have “Conquered the Beast”.




4. Tilt-a-Sled: This purple plastic disc toboggan was purchased for a paltry five hundred pennies (although, it almost never made it home, since someone didn’t want to share it with her siblings). It has two modes of travel: straight-and-narrow and dizzyingly circular. Riders (again so I’m told) claim that they experience an average of 20 360-degree turns, if they start with a slight spin at the top of the hill.

5. Messed Up: An old foam sled, which spent nearly an entire winter outside once. This sled is fairly fast; however, with busted handles hanging on is a real challenge. It is also equipped with tiny “blade runners” (not the android killing kind), which can cause the sled to turn suddenly. “Watch Out! It’s a wild one!”



6. Surf’s Up: This boogie board, which was designed for liquid water, rather than snow, was also found alone on the sledding hill. The slowest of the six sleds, it has the potential for providing spectacular wipeouts.






Maybe now I’ll appreciate Citizen Kane more…

*Comics And…Other Imaginary Tales is not responsible for predicting actual snow fall accumulations (in case we’re wrong), please refer to your local weather source for more reliable statistics.

**Due to technical difficulties (low batteries), we were unable to provide videos for each sled. We also apologize for the poor film making -- we didn't have a chance to do second takes... and I'm not even sure if they're going to work or not on the blog.