Amerika the stupid

 

Probably a chupacabra. Or something.

Red state stupidity: 

West Texas outbreak of measles grow

Blue state stupidity: 

Maine legislature doubles down on trans athletes

Called it

 

-TCO´s? Here in Maine?!
Surely, you´re joking?!

Years ago, I argued with a left-wing radical who called for the legalization of "soft drugs" (marijuana). His argument was that legalizing it would be a blow to the crime gangs currently in control of the international drug trade. I argued that the crime gangs would simply take over the *legal* trade, too! 

We now have the receipts. 

Maine admits licensing transnational criminal organizations to grow marijuana 

Global fall

 

More like summer!

"A Year on Planet Earth" is a four-part nature documentary released in 2022. I just watched the fall or autumn episode. It´s pretty eclectic and follow very different animals all over the world. It´s not even clear whether it´s always "fall" in the various locations.

Elephants in Africa, grizzlies in the Yukon, chipmunks in Quebec, muskoxen in Norway, Amur falcons chasing swarming termites in Nagaland, and monarch butterflies in both Maine and Mexico...you get the picture. Add zillions of crabs on Christmas Island and you´re done! 

I think we´ve seen most of this before, tbh, but it was a nice diversion from the election drama in a certain North American nation...

The real Langoliers?

A strange and almost Langolier-like story about a confused German tourist who mistook Bangor for San Francisco. A bit hard to believe, tbh. But then, the small town of Bangor does have an international airport...  

Erwin Kreuz

Scaring the little girl

 

Some fun facts (or factoids?) about "The Langoliers". 

The behind the scene footage is almost priceless. Yes, most of the mini-series was taped at an actual airport, Bangor International in Maine. You can see the actors and crew surrounded by (perhaps annoyed) airline passengers! The plane used was apparently sold to a Swedish airline at one point, but eventually ended up on a scrap heap in Burma. 

The actor starring the crazy Mr Toomy, Bronson Pinchot, was apparently quite the mad hatter IRL, as well. Weirdest of all is that Bangor is Stephen King´s hometown. Never been to Maine but, dude, is it really *that* scary? Even during rush hour?

Fear of flying

 

“The Langoliers” is a two-part horror fiction series based on a novella by Stephen King. It scares the hell out of some people, but personally I just found it weird and incomprehensible the first time I saw it decades ago. I recently watched it again (strangely, it´s available on YouTube for free) and found it to be extremely dragging, although perhaps a bit more comprehensible. The only interesting characters are Dinah, Toomy and Nick.

The plot revolves around a group of airline passengers on route to Boston who wake up mid-flight only to find that everyone else on their plane has mysteriously disappeared (Rapture-style). After landing in Maine, the group discovers that everyone else in the world seems to be gone, too. The group somehow manages to deduce that they have travelled back in time after their airplane flew through a mysterious light phenomenon. Much of the plot (such as it is) revolves around the blind girl Dinah, who has telepathic abilities, and the clinically insane Toomy, who fears a group of demonic beings he calls Langoliers. Toomy strikes me as an unrealistic character even for a science fiction story! His karma is remarkably bad, too, since he is eaten by the demons despite not really being responsible for his mentally ill condition.

There are some philosophically interesting aspects of the story. For instance, time travel is said to be (almost) impossible, since the past is devoured by the Langoliers. This atheist and almost nihilist scenario is balanced by a religious reverence towards the mysterious time rift, which is said to be the crucible of creation and so forth – in other words, God. Stephen King presumably got the idea from the Rapture of Dispensationalist fame. That obviously raises the question what happened to the people who disappeared from the airplane: did they actually go to Heaven, merge with Brahman, or what?

But, as already indicated, I found “The Langoliers” quite uninspiring. Fun trivia: when the novella was published, one negative reviewer said that the story reminded him of a bad television movie! A somewhat ironic prophecy, that one.    

Falling down

 

Linking to this kind of stuff could be risky, especially since this case is still "in progress", but this does strike me as a believable conspiracy theory. Why would a White supremacist use the euphemism "non-White" rather than a more spicy racial slur? Also, the messages sound very stereotyped, almost as if taken from a Hollywood film. 

But sure, the suspect apparently "heard voices", so perhaps the Trump demon told him to avoid the n-word on Discord and instead sound like a really badass cowboy from a Wild West flick?

Why the demoniac told him to shoot mostly White people in Maine is, alas, less clear.    

Glowy McGlowerson  

The wild hunt

 

“The Hunt for Red October” is a 1990 film starring Sean Connery as a rogue Soviet submarine captain. It´s based on a novel by Tom Clancy. One of the protagonists of the story, Jack Ryan, is probably based on Clancy himself. How freely I can´t say!

I don´t think the film is *that* good or interesting, but Sean Connery can make any film – no matter how awful – into a treat. Also, “The Hunt for Red October” does have a Cold War feel that makes me almost nostalgic. And yes, the Cold War stereotypes of Russians (Communist or anti-Communist) are very Hollywood-esque and frankly ridiculous, but that simply adds to the nostalgia.

The rogue captain, named Marko Ramius, is said to be Lithuanian and decides to abscond to the United States when realizing that the Soviets are developing a new class of submarines that are almost impossible to detect by sonar. Not suspecting that Ramius and some of his officers are traitors, the Soviet fleet puts *them* in charge of the prototype, named Red October. Ramius then decides to make a daring escape to America in the actual submarine. In the process, he kills a political commissar actually named Putin! 

Naturally, the Soviet Red Fleet isn´t amused and goes after him, while Soviet diplomats tell the US leadership that Ramius has gone insane and wants to nuke America. Unfortunately for the evil Reds, CIA analyst Jack Ryan has met Ramius on a previous occasion and suspects him of being a covert anti-Communist. Ryan convinces a sleezy Washington operative to give him three days to find out the truth about the captain´s intentions. Several major plot holes later, the Americans realize that Ramius is really on their side, while the Russians are still in hot pursuit…

As I said, not exactly a deep philosophy lecture, but could perhaps be splendidly devoured on a rainy autumn evening. Should perhaps be watched together with the documentary “The Real Hunt for Red October”, reviewed by me elsewhere on this blog.

The real hunt for "Red October"

In Lovecraft´s land

A couple of Lovecraft-themed ghost stories from Maine, New England.

"They" are EVERYWHERE

Just when I assumed the BFRO team had split and left Animal Planet in the lurch (or was it the lair), it turns out that the network's cash cow is still alive and even kicking. Yes, a new season (actually the 8th according to Animal Planet reckoning) of “Finding Bigfoot” is upon us!

The concept is exactly the same as always. There's Cliff Barackman, the true believer who is personally solid. There's Matt Moneymaker, the true believer who is, ahem, barking mad. His speculations about Bigfoot behavior are something to behold. Then there's the team skeptic Ranae Holland, and funny White (!) sidekick Bobo. This fantastic four roams every state of the Union (except Hawaii – although a Hawaiian barbecue has been used as bait), talks to eye-witnesses and carry out “night investigations”, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the elusive ape-man.

The idea that Bigfoot can be found almost *anywhere* is part of the concept, as the team searches Maine, New Hampshire and the outskirts of a military base in Georgia. They do hear strange sounds in the night, and think they get responses to their “wood-knocks”. However, the creature is always one step ahead, so don't expect any world-turning new evidence this time around either…

In case you find Bigfoot unappealing, I suppose five-star hotels, Maine forests or Savannah town-halls might make your day. (Yes, the hotel *does* look like something from “The Shining”.) We are also treated to a little tour in Loren Coleman's personal museum, Coleman being the grand old man of American crypto-zoology (or monster lore).

Could be of some interest to the causal viewer, but probably works best if you are a true believer, or somewhat crazy… ;-)

What about the dwarf, mate?

"Animal X" was an Australian TV series with some kind of cult status. I never bothered watching the original, but "Animal X: Natural Mystery Unit" is apparently a U.S.-oriented version of the same show, albeit still with Australians on the cast.

The concept is simple: Bill Kerr a.k.a. the Mission Controller sends out two young investigators, David and Nathalie, to investigate alleged sightings of Bigfoot, ghosts, aliens and other paranormal creatures. Kerr tries to make it all seem spookier than it actually is, while Dave and Nat turn out to be singularly non-charismatic. Not even the disco beat in the background can save the day. But sure, if you are well-disposed towards shows of this kind, I suppose you could get *something* out of it, at the very least a good laugh!

In "Winged Creatures", the team visits Point Pleasant, West Virginia and a town in Maine weirdly called...wait for it...Pleasant Point. Jungian sync? They also make a trip to Mexico. Then, it's back to another part of Maine to meet the dean of cryptozoology, Loren Coleman for some kind of closure. The mission? To find some explanation for the bizarre winged humanoids reported from various parts of North America. Of these, Mothman of Point Pleasant is arguably the best known, mostly due to John Keel's classical blockbuster "The Mothman Prophecies". One of the original eye witnesses, Linda Scarberry, claims to have seen both winged humanoids and transparent Men in Black. Scarberry reports that Keel told her that the MIBs wanted to kidnap her child, since five women in Point Pleasant became pregnant simultaneously after the Mothman encounters?!

Some sceptics have attempted to explain away Mothman as a barn owl (sounds familiar?), but Coleman can do better. He believes that Mothman is an unknown, truly *gigantic* species of owl. Bighoot, not Bigfoot. But what about the transparent MIBs and threatened child nappings? What about the evil dwarf observed by Keel on more than one occasion? Well...? Much as I like the idea of a thunderowl, it doesn't seem to cover all the bases, even apart from being an example of explaining one unknown with another...

Here, "Animal X - Natural Mystery Unit: Winged Creatures" ends. Although I can't say this show is my cup of Australian tea, I nevertheless give it three stars for showing us the absolute fringes of cryptozoology.

I mean, winged humanoids...? ;-)

Scarier than "Alien"?

"Prophecy" is a forgotten eco-horror film from 1979. Back then, some people considered it to be more scary than "Alien". Personally, I always assumed that the promotional poster for "Prophecy" was the ditto for "Alien". After watching both movies, I can definitely say that "Alien" is far scarier!

The main character, Robert Verne, is a demoralized medical doctor trying to help poor victims of slumlords in the ghetto. He eventually gets a new assignment: to investigate a paper mill in Maine, the managers of which are in conflict with a Native tribe, called "Opies" (Original People). Verne eventually realizes that the mill pollutes the surrounding forests with quicksilver, causing bizarre mutations among the local animals. The shaman of the Opies tells Verne that the spirit of the forest, Katahdin, has awakened to protect the land from the White polluters. It soon turns out that "Katahdin" is really a mutant bear. The rest of the plot is easily imagined.

I can't say I really liked "Prophecy". Its ecological and social message is rather shallow, and really a cover for a typical Hollywood entertainment flick. Don't look for a deep analysis of eco-problems or Native-settler relations! But then, I didn't expect any either. Still, it was interesting to watch some eco-social seventies nostalgia. Just a few years later, neo-liberalism reigned supreme, and here we are today, with eco-problems far scarier than "Prophecy"...

Or "Alien", for that matter.

Blood, gore and ravens

I admit that "The Mind of the Raven" was an interesting book. Books about ravens and other corvids usually are. In that sense, it's worth reading. Provided you are interested in corvids, of course!

And yet, I nevertheless didn't like the book. Bernd Heinrich constantly attempts to prove that he is manly and macho, and seems to have a morbid fascination with death, blood and dominance. And yes, he really is Reichsdeutsche. At one point, he gleefully reports a meaningless "experiment" he conducted at his farm: he quite simply tossed one of his geese into a cage housing hungry, young ravens, simply to see what would happen. Naturally, they attacked the poor goose. Is this man really a bird lover? He also threw a couple of chicken into the same cage, but this time the ravens didn't react. "The experiment was inconclusive". Heinrich must have been disappointed, so he killed the chicken, and fed them to the ravens in boiled condition instead!

There are also descriptions of how the author kills deer, opens the carcasses, and then places them in trees to attract the ravens. During a visit to Yellowstone, Heinrich complains about so many carnivores having left the area. Finally, however, he reaches a really wild part of the national park, where wolves roam and kill freely, accompanied by ravens, of course! We also learn about Heinrich's childhood, how he bred wild, dangerous animals on his parent's farm, and so on. Apparently, he lived in a unaccesible part of Maine most of his life.

Less gory are Heinrich's descriptions of a pet raven belonging to his good friend Doktor Klaus, and a trip to northern Canada to study a large flock of ravens which live right inside a town.

Sometimes I wonder whether natural history books tells us more about their authors than about the animals themselves...

But OK, I'll give the book four stars for the sake of the ravens.