Hugh Hefner Has Merged With The Infinite

Hugh Hefner, American icon, has passed.

Really, if anyone was living their best life, it's hard to imagine a more straightforward vision pursued and achieved (at a simply mind-boggling level) than America's least repentant swingin' daddio, Hugh Hefner.

No idea how one gets from "I have an idea!" to this point

I've mostly lived in the era of "Fun Uncle" and "Kindly Grandpa" Hef, the Playboy Clubs a relic of prior generations by the time I learned about them.  The magazine has always been around, but I've only ever bought one issue, and that was for someone else because I was feeling daffy.  The era of Playboy journalism getting scoops, publishing name writers, etc.. was still in play in the 1980's, but fading.  Mostly I remember the ads they ran on TV selling subscriptions to Playboy, and, of course, the forbidden stack of Playboy Magazines a few neighborhood dads or older brothers would have, which I never, ever would have stolen a peek at.  Nope.

But by high school (the early 90's), even chumps like me were aware that Playboy was less pornography (and I still roll my eyes at people who categorize it as such, but it also isn't for the whole family) and more of a lifestyle magazine for people who at least wanted to believe they were living it up.  And boobs.  Lots of boobs.  And butts.  And, Hef guessed correctly. That was a popular formula.

You're not supposed to say Hugh Hefner provided an invaluable service to America in a pre-internet era, but he kind of did.  For our more sensitive readers, we'll leave it there. But he also provided a view of the world in which embracing a sex-positive stance (albeit, a deeply problematic one) could get some traction.  And, he got Jimmy Carter to say some pretty funny shit.

It was always amazing to know the Playboy mansion was out there, and this average-looking guy had a "private grotto" attached to his pool. It was all so cartoonish, it just felt like a giant ad for the magazine, and I guess it was.  Sure, I'm sure Hef enjoyed it all, but it was work, too.

But it is true that the Playboy model has struggled since the mid-90's with the rise of the internet splitting up the varying interests contained in the magazine.  By the early 00's, Playboy seemed more successful as a brand or license than as a magazine.  They're still struggling to find a model that works that people will pay for, but that's other people's problem now and has been for decades.  Hef got to just stay in pajamas and hang out at his mansion all day.

I dunno.  You did a really remarkable and weird thing, Hef.  And I am sure your regrets are both vast and beyond the imaginings of any man.  But you did okay, too.  We're gonna miss you.

The Pleasure and Pain of a New Star Trek Series

I am going to be blunt with you people.

Since late college, I've liked Star Trek more in theory than in practice.  The last Star Trek movie I remember enjoying on its own merits was The Undiscovered Country, and possibly First Contact.

Admittedly, my exposure to Deep Space 9 was deeply hampered by the fact it ran while I was in college in the 90's (and often cash-poor) so I had a lack of things like:  television, cable, free time and Saturday afternoons, which is when I think the show aired in Austin.  Voyager I tried on, but literally disliked everyone but Janeway - and a recent attempt to watch the series again bore that out.  An attempt to watch Enterprise was hampered by a terrible theme song, pandering cat-suited Vulcans and a fairly bland kick-off that I never got into.  But I liked Captain Archer, so, I dunno.  By the time I looped back to try and watch it ("it got good!" people told me), it was canceled.

The new movies have only occasionally even remembered that they're Star Trek, failed to go on any missions, and while I genuinely liked the most recent one, the plot was weirdly inconsequential and could easily be forgotten if they skipped to a movie where they (a) actually went space exploring and (b) didn't destroy the Enterprise again.

Happy Birthday to Cassandra Peterson

Today is the birthday of Cassandra Peterson!  Reason enough to have some cake yourself.

Basil Gogos Has Merged With The Infinite

If you're a Monster Kid of any stripe, you know the work of Basil Gogos. Whether from his work painting covers of Famous Monsters of Filmland to album covers, Gogos spent the back half of the 20th Century and early 21st Century as king of a niche others are just now entering - illustrative portraiture of cinematic marvels and monsters.

Yesterday I became aware of the news that Basil Gogos has passed beyond this veil of tears.  But of this I am certain - his work is now as much a part of Monster Movie fandom as the films, actors and creators.  His uncanny visuals have been wonderful additions to pop-culture and modern culture itself.

St. Vincent - "New York"

Lookout. Swears in the song embedded below.



I am very much looking forward to the release of this album.

Harry Dean Stanton Has Merged With The Infinite

Somehow, death has taken one of the best, Harry Dean Stanton.

A notice in the New York Times.

No matter what he was in, he elevated the movie. Ebert himself said: "no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad."

Truth.

• Cool Hand Luke
• Kelly's Heroes
• Godfather: Part II
• Alien
• Escape From New York
• Christine
• Repo Man
• Red Dawn
• Pretty in Pink
• Last Temptation of Christ
• Wild at Heart
• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With me
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• The Avengers
• Twin Peaks

We're going to miss you, sir.  But thanks for everything.

Remembering 9/11

Remembering the victims and heroes of September 11, 2001 and all that came after.

May America remember how to live without fear.  May the world learn to live without war and terror.

Comics Legend Len Wein Merges With The Infinite

Gerry has informed me, and social media - from Paul Kupperberg to Paul Levitz and Elliot S! Maggin - confirms, that Len Wein has passed.

A report at CBR, Newsarama, and we are certain the reports will be in the hundreds.

My ear is not to the comics social media ground the way it once was, and I confess I didn't know he was ill.  When his fellow Swamp Thing creator, Bernie Wrightson, passed in recent days, I'd known of Wrightson's illness in part because of announcements and some of his work stopped that I was reading.  Wein had recently returned to the DC stable and I hadn't heard.

I just check Comic Vine, and Wein has 1640 credits on comics to his name between credits for writing, editing, et al.

69 seems far off when you're in your twenties.  When you're in your forties, it seems very, very young and very unfair.  

But Wein left an incredible legacy, and was a huge part in the shift in content and tone that led to modern comics.  From his contribution in creating Wolverine and Swamp Thing to his work on establishing X-Men in much the way we think of them today, to great work on Batman and practically every other character in comics.

I can't say anything that Wein's peers and friends won't say with more grace and with far more meaning than myself.  I encourage you to read the tributes which are already appearing.  But I will say he will always be remembered, his work loved, his contributions honored and the folks he inspired who came after him owe him a great debt of gratitude for paving the way to a new kind of comic - which, in turn, changed our culture.

Super Re-Re-Re-Re-Re-Watch: Superman - The Movie (1978)

The other night Jamie and I watched Superman: The Movie for the first time in some time.  For us, that meansL it's been over a year since we sat down and watched it.  For me, it's been greater than 6 months.  It may be that same "more than a year" timeframe - these days I can no better remember a particular viewing of the movie than I can an airplane flight or yet another hotel room.  I've been trying to watch things new-to-me and kind of failing at it, and re-watching this movie, yet again, was not going to get me into anything novel.

What spurred us down this path was the recent article on a site called Polygon that discussed what most Gen-Xers and our forebears already knew:  Christopher Reeve is more than just a buff, cut dude in spandex.  He was a Julliard-trained actor.  And, he was working with a director and script that didn't just ask him to glower or look mournful across the span of two movies.  In comparison to the funeral dirge of Man of Steel and Cavill's limited acting opportunities and Batman v Superman and the inane use of the character, Superman: The Movie's myth-building, multi-tier, multi-faceted structure gave Reeves (and the film itself) the chance to do something deft and nuanced when it wasn't being broad and slapsticky.

Because Texas Lawmakers Run Totally Unopposed - Sep. 1 Was SWORD DAY

Here in the great State of Texas, it is now somewhat legal to brandish a sword in public.  Basically the conservatives have been in charge my entire life, and have run out of things to conserve.  I wish I was kidding, but that's how we wasted an entire session trying to tell transgendered people where and how to pee.

So, they're also doing stuff like worrying about your right to carry a sword in public, which was apparently a problem for someone.

The Texas Law Hawk is here to protect your rights and provide some consultation.

He is a real lawyer.  And, some say, a hero.