Memories

While I was sitting out the back having my morning serve of tea & toast, I was flipping through a magazine and looked at one of their short stories; it turned out to be about a brother and sister who didn't get on in younger years but came to love and respect each other as they grew up.  The story ends with the brother proudly being part of the wedding of his younger sister.

After I finished reading, I closed the magazine and sat there lost in my thoughts for a while.  What were the odds, I pondered.   Just this morning, Facebook had reminded me that it was seven years to the day I had been best man at the wedding of my younger sister.  I'll never forget how happy she looked that day.

We miss you, Julie.   God bless.

*

Even last Sunday was busy this week.  I read from the Old Testament at the communion service this morning (and got the usual two or three comments from the parishioners - maybe I should start selling my autograph for the missionary fund).

Then picked up three bags of feed from the Animal Tucker Box store.  Home for a light lunch and closed my eyes for an hour.  Went next door to a birthday party for my neighbor's big-seven-oh celebration.  The family dogs didn't seem upset by all the visitors, though one of them brought her ball in and kept dropping it at stranger's feet and looking hopefully at them. 

*

Here's a poem I wrote back in 2014:

A MONDAY POEM

Somehow 

at this time of life 

the day seems to go out of focus

so easily. 

Too much coffee

or maybe too little. 

You feel as though 

in some way

you haven't quite connected

with reality. 

It's all -- somewhere a little removed. 

You run on tramlines of routine,

vaguely baffled by your own steadfastness.

The things you used to love

no longer give you the same pleasure. 

The things which were a chore 

are so familiar 

they no longer

even bore you.

Voices on the radio 

talk of interesting things

and play new pieces of music 

but it seems to come 

from a space station 

in orbit 

around some other planet. 

The calendars and diaries

tell of an old year ending

and a new year beginning, 

but there are none 

of the markers you were used to. 

Where are the cards 

from those uncles and aunts, 

so punctual every year?

All gone, every one of them.

And you realize that now

you are the older generation.

Down I go again !

 

Broke my glasses again.  Don't really know how it happened.   Last year when I had my first bad fall, I could sort of understand it -- I was walking uphill in the dark when I lost my balance.  But this time?  I went out to vote on Friday, got out of my car, took two steps and down I went.

I hit my nose when I went down, so a gratifyingly large number of people appeared from all directions when they saw me lying there bleeding profusely.  At the hospital, they gave all the usual tests - scans, X-rays, blood tests, and the old "I'm going to shine this light in your eye" standard.   A paramedic asked me if I knew the date and I replied less than enthusiastically "Yes, it's Friday the 13th !"

One young nurse leaned over me and said "I want you to grasp my hands and pull me towards you..."   I thought my luck had changed, but she was just testing me.

Later, when I was beginning to feel very dry, two nurses came in and one said
"You might be a bit dehydrated.  Could you drink these two bottles of water in thirty minutes?"   I said "I'll give it a go!"  I must have had a gleam in my eye because I heard the other nurse murmur "Challenge accepted."

They finally let me go home about 7.15  -  as I sat in the cab going home, I was vaguely surprised to see the sun was only just going down.  it felt like I'd been in the hospital for a whole day.  Needless to say I took two paracetemol and went to bed early.

 ---------------------------------------------

Once again I thank You Tube and the Internet Archive for uploading so many great movies.

 AGAIN THE RINGER  [1965]  Neues vom Hexer
Another German movie based on Edgar Wallace's novels.   This one features Heinz Drache as Inspector Wesby, the previous sleuth having been married off in the last movie.   A rich but unlikeable man is murdered and the killer tries to blame the crime on the notorious vigilante The Ringer.   Any reader of thrillers will know this is a bad idea and the Ringer is on the next plane to London to clear his name.  Two notable things  -  firstly, two of the leading ladies are played by Barbara Rutting and Brigitte Horney (really!) and secondly how did they do that scene where a young boy is locked in a room full of tigers but he makes friends with them???

PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES  [1966]
Hammer Films' only zombie movie and one of their better thrillers.  A visit to Cornwall in  1860 by an eminent doctor ends in the discovery that a local squire is using the reanimated dead to work in his tin mine!  Good perforances by Andre Morell and Jacqueline Pearce [pictured] who madc this movie back-to-back with THE REPTILE.  Michael Ripper is the village policeman.

 

RAID ON ENTEBBE [1977]
TV movie based on the 1976 hijacking of an airliner.  Packed with familiar faces.    There have been three or four movies based on this incident -- at two and a half hours this one is a bit long and I wasn't surprised to hear that 20 minutes were cut for the theatrical and home video releases.

LONDON BY NIGHT  [1937]
Amiable little mystery B-movie featuring George Murphy, better known for his song and dance roles.  Here he's an American newsman in foggy London who becomes involved in the hunt for a serial killer known only as The Umbrella Man.  With the help of his dog, a beautiful socialite and Scotland Yard man George Zucco, he tracks down the killer.   All Is Not What It Seems.

MAN BEAST [1956]
Reputedly the second movie ever made about the  Abominable Snowman, and debut production for director Jerry Warren.  Lots of stock footage spliced into the mountain scenes make this movie look better than any ultra-low-budget film has a right to.  Vexingly, the start of one vital scene seems to be lost (but you can guess what was said without much trouble).

THE SLIME PEOPLE   [1963]
A group of refugees battle for survival after Los Angeles is invaded by a subterranean race of reptiles.   Robert Hutton starred and directed, but the result is a thoroughly generic horror flick.   Most of the budget seems to have gone on the fog machine and the nasty-looking creature suits.

FROM LIFE  [2018]
Could you make a version of THE SIXTH SENSE that only runs 8 minutes?  Director Uli Meyer has done it.  See it on the Omleto channel on You Tube.

INVADERS FROM SPACE  [1965]
One of four "movies" edited from the Japanese television show about super-hero Starman.   This one is supposed to be the best of the four  -- heaven help us if that is true!

SHARKNADO 3
Following on from the inexplicably successful tongue-in-cheek action movie SHARKNADO,  it's clear that the law of diminishing returns has set in, as it often does with movie series.  Probably the stupidest film I've seen this year.

BRIDE OF THE GORILLA [1951]
Jungle film noir !  Barney  (Raymond Burr) kills his elderly employer in order to get to his beautiful wife (Barbara Payton). However, an old native witch witnesses the crime and poisons Barney, who soon after finds himself turning nightly into a rampaging gorilla. But is it real or is it all in his head?  Director Curt Siodmak also wrote the screenplay, perhaps harking back to his script for the first Wolfman film.  Also starring are Lon Chaney (the original WOLFMAN)  and Tom Conway (who had similar problems in THE CAT PEOPLE).    Tolerable B-movie stuff.

GHIDORAH THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER   [1964]
Lots happens in this one, but basically a princess prophecies the arrival of space monster Ghidorah and the possible doom of humanity.  Can Mothra persuade Godzilla and Rodan to unite and save the Earth?   Considered by some to be one of the best of the early Godzilla movies.

POLICE DOG  [1955]
Both my sisters would have loved this movie.  They were big fans of the TV series INSPECTOR REX.  In fact the dog in this one is also called Rex!  Supporting cast includes John Le Mesurier and a young Christopher Lee.

HOUSE OF THE DAMNED [1963]
Marketed as a horror movie, but actually a suspense story about a supposedly haunted house.  Ron Foster and Merry Anders are pleasant as the leads, and black-and-white Cinemascope makes the movie look good.  This is one of three movies director Maury Dexter made at the Greystone mansion in Los Angeles.

MURDER IN TIMES SQUARE  [1943]
Edmund Lowe is a struggling playwright who finally has a hit on Broadway.  But an irascible old woman puts a curse on him and he's soon implicated in a string of "snakebite murders".   Passable B-movie thriller with some telling dialogue about the nature of fame.  Imagine if Damon Runyon and Edgar Wallace had met and decided to write a script together......
 

A lethargic end to the winter months

 I haven't been well this last few weeks.  Long Covid?  RSV?  URTI?  Who knows.

Monday morning you might have expected me to be pleased I had nothing in my diary for this week, after days of appointments and functions last week.  Didn't quite work out that way.  The weather was pleasant enough, but as the afternoon went on I began sneezing regularly;  by the time it started raining at dusk, I couldn't lean forward to pick anything up without my nose running like a tap.  Swallowing cup after cup of hot black tea, I washed down some C-G-H tablets (Vitamin C, Garlic and Horse Radish).
I had the radio on and when the evening presenter took over, he kicked off the show with the Rolling Stones singing "I can't get no satisfaction"  --  I muttered to myself, don't tell us about your troubles, we've got problems of our own!
*
We always called her "Mrs Harris" -- my sister Julie and I often visited when Madeleine was in town, and she always told us to call her by her Christian name, but we usually slipped back after a few minutes.  The big house always impressed us and once I mentioned I'd been to Government House and that it had reminded me of the Harris home;  "Yes, I think they were designed by the same architect" she said in a matter-of-fact voice."  Ah.  Yes.  (Oops)  We always enjoyed our visits there, and she always made us welcome at Sunnyside whether for small gatherings or large parties.  (Mr Harris was the only person I knew who had a portrait of himself on the wall of the pool room.) It was a long time before our two families discovered we were related through our mothers.  I can't say it made a lot of difference - Julie and Madeleine had been at school together, so discovering they were cousins changed their relationship little.
But that was many years ago, in another century.  Now I am left to speak for our side of the family and say "Good night, Mrs Harris".

*
Winter was a difficult season and by July things felt as though they were winding down.  But as often happens, there was a bit of a spike the following month.  In one week we had the quarterly organ concert, the monthly meeting at the church hall, the fortnightly study group in Sandy Bay and our weekly visit to the op shops.  By Monday morning I felt like I'd been put through a mangle.

*

Once again thanks to You Tube and Internet Archive for last month's movies.

GAPPA THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTER [1967]
Explorers bring back a newly-hatched monster from a South Sea island to be exhibited in Tokyo.  If you've seen the British movie GORGO you'll be ahead of the plot  --  yes, the monster's parents show up looking for him and chaos ensues.  In spite of the less than original script, there's a certain naive charm about this one and you'll stay watching to the heart-warming finale.

SPARROW SONG [2021 short - 13 minutes]
A couple travel across a ruined world hoping to find food and water.  Lyrical filming with a feel that makes up for its downbeat theme.  I found it poignant that the only piece of humanity's art and culture that survives is the man's piano accordion.  Available on Omletto's you tube channel.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR  (1994)
No, not the one with Jessica Alba.  Back in '94 the conpany that owned the movie rights was contractually obliged to make a film, so they hired Roger Corman's studio to do it.  The result is actually rather fun, though film buffs might be aghast at the 1990s special effects and Marvel fans will probably tut-tut at some tinkering with the plot.  But overall, it's good comic-book style entertainment.

SOMETHING EVIL   [1972]
I've often mused on the fact that people in horror movies never seem to have watched any horror movies.  Darren McGavin and Sandy Dennis (New Yorkers who buy a haunted house in the country) certainly had never seen ROSEMARY'S BABY or they wouldn't have taken advice about the supernatural from Ralph Bellamy.
The second TV movie directed by Steven Spielberg, who complained  later that the budget was cut by CBS, who did not give him creative control of the filming.  How times have changed!

THE HORROR AT 37,000 FEET    [1973]
Back when they used to make scores of made-for-TV movies, someone obviously thought "Hey, let's make a haunted house story but set it on a Jumbo Jet!"  Hence this film.   A lot of familiar faces are trapped aboard an airliner when somebody decides to send a haunted altar to America by air freight. Fans of American TV will enjoy seeing Roy Thinnes (as an architect) and William Shatner (almost reprising his role from a certain Rod Serling show);  the rest of us, not so much.

THE MAN FROM PLANET X   [1963]
Cheaply-made science fiction film about an alien visitor landing on a fog-shrouded Scottish island.  First half moves along nicely but runs out of steam as it goes on.  According to producer Jack Pollexfen, director Edgar G. Ulmer did rewrites, designed the spaceship and the glass paintings to expedite production and cut down on expenses.  I like the Ulmer films from the fifties that I've seen but this is a sixties movie that feels like something from the fifties.

LADY FRANKENSTEIN  [1971]
If you came in after the credits, you could be forgiven for thinking this was one of Hammer Films' later productions, except instead of Peter Cushing we have Joseph Cotten.  In this atmospheric Italian production, the lovely Rosalba Neri (billed here as Sara Bey) vows to carry on her father's work after he dies.  The creature he created in his final experiment terrorizes the district and she decides to create one of her own making.   (Please note, if you watch this, don't assume there's a fault in the print;  the final scene simply fades to black, with no end credits.)

THE DAY REAGAN WAS SHOT  [2001]
No great shakes as a historical piece, but this shot-in-Canada TV movie makes an exiting story out of John Hinckley's shooting of Ronald Reagan in 1981
 (I clearly remember watching the actual event on the TV news).  Emphasis is equally divided between the doctors fighting to save the President and the chaos and bickering among the White House insiders.   Richard Crenna is Reagan and (of all people) Richard Dreyfuss plays General Haig.  

MAYDAY   [2005]
Explosive decompression at 64,000 feet is no joke.  But that's what happens in this edge-of-the-seat TV movie.  A trio of survivors have to do what they can to get the plane down safely. A few familiar faces but no big names;  however Gail O'Grady has a memorable cameo as the insurance executive who explains it would be cheaper to let the plane crash rather than try to save it.  (Based on a bestseller co-written by Nelson de Mille)

CHARLIE CHAN IN LONDON  [1934]
Sixth of the Chan films with Warner Oland playing the oriental super-sleuth.  Here he's working to a deadline  --  he has to track down a killer before an innocent man is                        hanged for the crime in three days time.  He spends the weekend at a stately home where his presence causes some alarm among the servants - "We'll all be murdered in our beds " declares a maid.  Barrister Ray Milland is there for legal help. The mystery is solved just in time, thanks no doubt to Philip MacDonald the scriptwriter (who was a popular crime novelist as well as the man who adapted REBECCA for Hitchcock).   Passable for a movie of this vintage.

ATRAGON  [1963]
The legendary lost continent of Mu reappears to threaten the world. While countries unite to resist, an isolated World War ll Captain has created the greatest warship ever seen, possibly the surface world's only hope.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM [1964]  a.k.a. THE RACETRACK MURDERS
A string of murders take place at a rich horse-owner's estate.  This is sort of an Edgar Wallace thriller - it's based on a novel by his son - and provides the required number of deaths, race-fixing and surprises.

FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD  a.k.a. Frankenstein vs. Baragon [1965]
Near the end of WWII, Germans transport the immortal heart of Frankenstein's monster to Japan, where it is seeming lost in the bombing of Hiroshima. Years later a wild boy is found, born from the immortal heart.
I saw this on TV when I was at school on a small black and white set;  this looks more impressive than that and the plot is more subtle (which could be something to do with the Australian TV censor).

A Winter not-so-wonderland

 

A while between updates.  Sorry about that.  Herewith some miscellaneous notes.

Watched movie THE BLACK RAVEN  [1943]
"The bridge is out, you'll have to stay the night." How many old movies has this situation turned up in??
In this B-movie from the PRC studio, it turns out to be an enjoyable low-budget drama benefiting from the casting of George Zucco as the sinister innkeeper and Glenn Strange as his not-too-bright handyman.  A group of strangers are isolated by a storm, despite their varying reasons for wanting to cross the border.  Thrills and mystery ensue.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.   Worth a look.
*

I didn't mind having a widow's peak when I was in my fifties (hey, if it's good enough for Doc Savage...), but now I am in my seventies my receding hairline makes me think.  The first thing that comes to mind are those Superman comics I used to read as a child.  Time travellers from the future always had bulbous heads, as though their brains were so large they made their skulls bulge.  That's my story anyway.
*
The lead-up to Easter was always going to be a busy week.  This year I had the weekly Tuesday night quiz, the fortnightly Wednesday study group, the monthly Missions meeting on Thursday, the annual Good Friday service, the weekly op-shopping on Saturday and the annual Easter Sunday service,  followed by a lunch with friends down the river. By the time I got home Sunday afternoon I went straight back to bed.
*
Winter draws near.  We had some showers in the morning and maybe some snow on the mountain (couldn't see).  By the time I set off for church there was a faint rainbow in the sky and I aimed the car towards it.  After the morning service, commiserated with other church-goers about the break-in we had at the church hall.  Apparently a man has been arrested for committing five burglaries in one night.   You may deplore his morals but you have to admire his work ethic.
Dozed in my chair for a while after lunch then did some boxing-up of stuff.  Books, movies, CDs, etc etc.  I had dinner and watched a Mexican horror movie  -- didn't enjoy it much, since it was the third in a trilogy and they spent a lot of time harking back to the first two in the series.  Meh, should have had an early night instead.   [May 22nd]
*
This Sunday had the feel of the winter months ahead.  I came home from church and had lunch, then dozed off for a while in my chair.  When I woke up, I had to rush outside and feed the animals before it got dark.  So far so good.  But when I got back inside I started sneezing and sniffling for over an hour (I must have gone through half a box of Kleenex).  Fortunately I remembered I had a bottle of tablets from last winter, so I took a dose of Cenovis Immunity (Garlic, Horseradish and C Complex).
I was all right by the time I went to bed, but I do recall that last winter I used to wear a mask not just to protect me from Covid but to keep the cold winds out of my face.  I suspect I'll do the same thing this year.
*
What is that strange humming noise?  It died away in the afternoon after being audible most of last night.  Puzzling. 

The Hum

*
As they said on SEINFELD once, sometimes one of your friends is up and one of them is down.  That's certainly true today.  I spoke to Keith Curtis on the phone and he is quite unwell this week, so no visits to the op shops for him in the immediate future.  Then when I looked at Facebook this morning what do I find but Ian Grieve has been awarded the Order of Australia medal for his thirty years researching Australian radio history; probably the equivalent of an MBE in the old system.
So it's "Congratulations" to Ian,  and "Get Well Soon" to Keith.  God bless you both!

Movies from last year (You Tube)

 Fairly complete listing of the movies I watched on-line last year.

12 to the Moon   Ken Clark   Michi Kobi   Tom Conway.mp4     
40 Days&Nights - Full Movie HD Bizzarro Madhouse.mp4    
A Casualty of War (1989) Frederick Forsyth - Action Thriller HD
Abominable Dr Phibes.mp4     1.16 GB
Air Collision   Full Movie   Action Adventure Disaster.mp4     432 MB
Airline Disaster   Full Movie   Action Adventure.mp4     903 MB
ALLIGATOR PEOPLE and THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS.mp4  
Arctic Blast FULL MOVIE   Michael Shanks .mp4     1.07 GB
Atomic Attack (1950).mp4     124 MB
Atomic Brain- Jan Wahl.mp4     985 MB
Attack of the Cat People and Cat Women of the Moon
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)   Ken Clark   Yvette Vickers   
Battle Beyond The Sun & The Terror - Roger Corman.mp4     
Battle of Los Angeles (Attack  L.A.)    Alien Invasion.mp4     391 MB
BATTLE OF THE WORLDS .mp4     536 MB
Biggles  Adventures in Time
BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS and THE BRAIN EATERS.mp4   
Bride of the Monster   Full Restored Movie   Ed Wood
Carnival of Souls.mp4     1.04 GB
Captain Video Master of the Stratosphere 1951, Colorized
Cat Women of the Moon & The Phantom Planet.mp4     952 MB
Colonel March of Scotland Yard    Episode 1   Boris Karloff
Cone of Silence     Flick Vault.mp4     623 MB
Creation of the humanoids (1962) Sci-fi full movie.mp4     233 MB
Creature From The Haunted Sea   Mark Siegel.mp4     749 MB
Damnation Alley.mp4     1.07 GB
Das Gasthaus an der Themse  1962.mp4     901 MB
Deadly Mantis 1957.mp4     5.98 GB
Der Fälscher von London 1961.mp4     991 MB
DESTINATION MOON 1950 REMASTERED Classic 50's Sci-Fi
Die Seltsame Grafin 1961 strange countess (German).mp4    
Die Weisse Spinne 1963.mp4     339 MB
Die, Monster, Die!   Classic Horror Movie   Boris Karloff
Doctor Bloods Coffin.zip     971 MB
Earth vs The Flying Saucers & Flight to Mars.mp4     1.5 GB
First Man Into Space & Fiend Without a Face (1958).mp4     589 MB
Gamera vs Monster X (Gamera vs Jiger) (1080p).mp4     949 MB
Gammera the Invincible (1966).mp4     298 MB
Giant Gila Monster & Terror From The Year 5000.mp4     1.38 GB
Hannie Caulder   Full Movie   Flick Vault.mp4     381 MB
Here Come The Huggetts 1948 Kathleen Harrison & Jack Warner.mp4     564 MB
Horror Express   Michael Berryman.mp4     833 MB
INVADERS FROM MARS (1953) Full Movie.
Invasion of the Animal People (1959)
IT Conqured the World & The Day Mars Invaded Earth.mp4    
Killer Shrews - Damian's Dreadfuls Se 03, Ep 02.mp4     959 MB
Killers from Space (1954) PETER GRAVES.mp4     219 MB
Kronos (1957).mp4     151 M
Lathe of Heaven interview.mp4     64.2 MB
LATHE OF HEAVEN.mp4     335 MB
Maigret S01E01 - The Patience of Maigret   full episode.mp4    
MAXIMUM IMPACT + DRONE WARS Midnight Screening.mp4   
MONSTROSITY  THE ATOMIC BRAIN a.k.a.
MOON ZERO TWO (1969) Full Movie Sci-Fi,
Night Gallery  the Often Forgotten Successor of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone(1).mp4     132 MB
Nightmare Castle - Full Movie in English (HD)
No Highway In The Sky 1951, Colorized, James Stewart
NOT OF THIS EARTH    Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, Morgan Jones    
NOTHING BUT THE NIGHT (1973) Classic Horror
Old Dark House-- John Stanley.mp4     974 MB
Our Town   OSCAR-NOMINATED   William Holden  
Over the Hill Gang   Full Movie   Comedy   Western
Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again   Walter Brennan   WESTERN   
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman   
Paper Tiger   Full Movie   Flick Vault.mp4     532 MB
People City  Toronto’s Lost Anthem (2017).mp4     285 MB
Plan 9 from Outer Space   Ed Wood (full movie).mp4     179 MB
Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) Versión Color
Planet Of the Vampires.zip     926 MB
Pterodactyl FULL MOVIE    The Midnight Screening.mp4     462 MB
Reptilicus    444 MB
Rocketship-XM  1950.mp4     376 MB
Sharknado 1 - Full Movie HD by Bizzarro Madhouse.mp4     1.22 GB
Sharknado 2  The Second One - Full Movie HD by Bizzarr
SHERLOCK HOLMES    THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1939)   
Sink the Bismarck! Kenneth More, Dana Wynter.mp4     946 MB
Son Of Monte Cristo (1940)   Full Movie   Louis Hayward
Strategic Command - 1997 action movie.mp4     558 MB
Superman And The Molemen.zip     404 MB
Tarzan and the Green Goddess   Bruce Bennett.mp4     1.08 GB
Tarzan and the Trappers .mp4     833 MB
Tarzan's Revenge (1938)   Full Movie   Glenn Morris
The Ape Man (1943) BELA LUGOSI.mp4     188 MB
The Atomic Brain (1963)   Full Movie   Marjorie Eaton
The Blood Beast Terror   Full Movie   Flick Vault.mp4     618 MB
The Brain Eaters (1958) Sci-Fi, Horror Cult Film.mp4     357 MB
THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE (1962)  COLORIZED.mp4     
The Cosmic Man    -    1959.mp4     193 MB
THE CRAWLING EYE 1958 Full Movie Sci Fi The Trollenberg Terror
THE DAY MARS INVADED EARTH (1962) Sci-Fi, Kent Taylor
The Drowned Giant Full Movie in English.mp4     32 MB
The Flood Part 1   Tom Hardy   
The Flood Part 2   Tom Hardy
The Forger of London    Der Falsher Von London(dubbed).mp4   
The Giant Gila Monster (1959) Colorized  
The Indestructible Man (1956)   Full Movie   Lon Chaney, Jr.  
THE LOST MISSILE 1958 Colorized Classic 50's Sci Fi, Robert Loggia
The Manster (1959) Horror, Sci-Fi Full Length Monster Movie.mp4   
THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED 1957 Full Movie
The Oblong Box.mp4     524 MB
The Quiller Memorandum.mp4     323 MB
The She Beast (1966)  Barbara Steele, John Karlsen.mp4     311 MB
The She Creature 1956 Horror.mp4     692 MB
THE SKY CALLS   Nebo zovyot   Battle Beyond The Sun  
The White Spider  (Eng dub of Die Weibe  Spinne).mp4     
UNKNOWN ISLAND and LOST CONTINENT.mp4     590 MB
Valley Of The Dragons.zip     858 MB
Voyage to the End of the Universe ( Ikarie XB 1  1963) [1080p]
World of the Vampires.mp4     248 MB

Comment  from Andrew Murray
Bloody hell, that's awesome 👍 Very impressive list

A happy new year hopefully

 

These fifty two weeks
are all the time we can own;
value the New Year.
-- Haiku for January 2014  No.1

2022 was a difficult year.  I had Covid early in the year, then after I got over that I ended up in an ambulance after falling over and hitting my head.  On the national scene,  there were disastrous floods all around the country (though my home town was spared) and in the elections we had a change of government;  the right wing were right out and the left wing were left in office.  There was inflation, soaring power prices and shortages of all sorts of things.

Some of this was to do with world events.   Who would have thought we'd have an honest-to-goodness shooting war in Europe, but that's what we got when the Russians went into Ukraine.  This affected supplies of oil, gas and wheat to the rest of the world.  China meanwhile was having its own problems, but to paraphrase an old saying, when China gets a cold, we start sneezing.

The Queen died, which didn't shock me as much as I would have expected,  because the previous night I spoke to my friend Keith on the phone.  He had been listening to the BBC radio news and said that reading between the lines they had been saying Her Majesty's health was concerning.  So the next morning I was mentally prepared to some extent when the news came over the radio.

Locally,   Sue Neill-Fraser completed 13 years of her life sentence for murder and successfully applied for parole.  Sue isn't a friend, but she knew my sister and I recall meeting up with her in the car park at our local supermarket.  Her trial was controversial, and I know of no other case where somebody was convicted of killing her husband despite there being no body, no witnesses and no murder weapon.

I remember hearing someone say the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse symbolised Famine, War, Pestilence and Death.  Having lived through the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam and AIDS,  I had not expected to hear those hoofbeats in the distance again in my lifetime.

Here's something I wrote on a Christmas card last year.  Maybe it's applicable to all of us.

This year, may you be healthier, wealthier and happier than you were in the previous year.