Yakko, Wakko, and Garlic Bread

Lunch today with most of the original writers and producers of "Animaniacs." We met at the Smokehouse in Burbank across the street from the Warner Bros. main lot. Those deep into "Animaniacs" know the Smokehouse was the favorite hangout of director Weed Memlo. (Voiced by Jeff Glen Bennett.) We laughed and remembered all the fun and not-so-fun times. (Such as when the wrong show was submitted for the 1994 Emmys.) Paul Rugg complained that he didn't get enough garlic bread, we all said "Merry Christmas," and that was that. Hopefully, we'll meet again sooner. Those were indeed special times.

True Horror

Posting on Lovecraft last week got me thinking about horror. Things I find frightening leave a resonance. Something pings around the back of my head long after the event. One contemporary film and one recent occurrence will illustrate.

The Others seemed headed down a familiar ghost-story lane. Yet the movie ended with a chilling glimpse of existence beyond death. This wouldn't have frightened, say, Lovecraft, who didn't hold with the afterlife. But weeks after viewing, I remained "haunted" by the fate of certain characters.


On 9/11 hundreds of people jumped from the World Trade Center. Some were blasted from the buildings while others stumbled in the smoke. But the images of those who chose to leap a thousand feet remain. One photo showed a man falling with a table cloth fluttering near him like a hopeless parachute. Couples jumped holding hands. Groups jumped together.

Shock amidst the mundane. Arrive at work and, before your second cup of coffee, select between grim deaths. Esquire and USA Today published articles on the jumpers. The fall lasted ten seconds.

More later.

A Tip of the Old Helm

Thanks to the folks at Feebleminds Free Animated Gifs, a UK-based website that offers free clipart including very cool fantasy images. (More examples in "The Infested Outside" III post below.)

They Call Me Mr. 8970

My final practice run today with Team in Training. We logged an easy eight miles on trails above the Rose Bowl.

This time next week I'll be in Honolulu. This time next Sunday, I'll have completed the marathon.

My race bib is # 8970.

I'm fired up, ready to go now!

But first a nap.

"The Infested Outside" and Other Fond Memories III

I was a Marine in the early 1970s. One night in the barracks I came across an unusual paperback . For one thing, it didn't have “coed lust” in the title. For another, it contained the H.P. Lovecraft story “The Horror at Red Hook.”

That tale launched me on a Lovecraft phase as I delved into his odd, disturbing mythos: gruesome elder beings — the Great Old Ones — lurk behind dimensional doors. They corrupt through dreams, awaiting release by the unwary or depraved. If freed they’ll raze the Earth they once ruled. Erik Davis refers to this theme as “the infested outside.” Our world in constant tension with unseen realms of evil.

That always lent a doomed nobility to Lovecraft good guys such as Wingate Peaslee or the Miskatonic professors who banish the “Dunwich Horror.” They fight evil in the face of cosmic hopelessness. The best anyone can expect is a stay of execution. Ragnarok without rebirth.

Artist Pete Von Sholly pokes wry fun at Classics Illustrated comics, drawing faux covers to Lovecraft titles.

Anyway, it’s been spookily nostalgic assembling all this.

Bye for now.

Deadline Deluge

No "fond memories" tonight. Deadlines all over the place for this animated script and that short story. Plus I've got a small flu or "flulet." And, of course, training continues for the marathon next weekend.

However, I did take time to read the blog of a depressed college girl from Canada.

Now I'm depressed, too.

"The Infested Outside" and Other Fond Memories II

Frank Frazetta drew evocative "Creepy"/"Eerie" covers. There were dark ancient temples, sea serpents rising from storm-tossed waves, mighty warriors battling winged demons, ill-clad, voluptuous women — with and without leopards. He sure knew what appealed to 11- year-old me. Frazetta also illustrated covers for the paperback reissue of Robert E. Howard's Conan series. My friends and I were big Conan fans and traded around the books like baseball cards.



I'll be back.