Today animated short is Dojoji Temple (1976) directed by Kihachiro Kawamoto (1925-2010). Kawamoto was a man of many talents he made and design puppets, he was a director, screen writer and the president of the Animation Association of Japan.

In 1976 he made a animation short called Dojoji Temple.

The premise of the short is about a man who is on a mission encounters a enchanting women and they end up spending the night together.

He is very set to continue his mission that he runs away from this women and she chases him down.

Unfortunately for the gentlemen he doesn’t realize that she hold magical powers and is able to turn into  a demon! Which she does in order to track him down and she is definitely anger that she was abandon.

 

Every time she catches up to him, he only flees from her. Making him go further away from her.

But she is still able to track him down by any means and is able to transform herself into a serpent with the head of a dragon.

The gentleman finds refuge in a Dojoji Temple and tells the Buddhist monks about the demon who is chasing him. The monks take pity on him and decide to take him in and hide him.

However the women still as a serpent finds his hiding place inside the temple and is so angry with him that she sets a blaze his hiding  place.

Later when the monks come back to check in with the gentle and are shocked to find him not only dead but his skeleton.

This short is definitely worth checking outand is available on youtube.  The story of this is based off of a Kabuki play. This short is so visually stunning and there is no audio only music to this short. The video is below:

Until Next time!

 

 

When the name Dr. Carl Tanzler comes up not the much people know his name but they are better familiarize with this bizarre legacy.

Dr. Carl Tanzler (1877-1952) was a resident of Key West, Florida and working as a radiology technician at Marine-Hospital Service in West Florida. He seemed to have normal life until a faithful day on April 22, 1930 where he met Elena “Helen” Milagros de Hoyos (1909-1931) at the hospital. Elena was know in Key West for her beautiful features and incredibly dark hair and Dr. Tanzler was immediately smitten by her when he was introduced to her.

However there was the huge issue of Dr. Tanzler being a married man and also a father. But those factors did not seem to sway Dr. Tanzler and fell in love with Elena. The de Hoyos family had a health issue of tuberculosis running in the family. Which during that time was basically a death warrant because it was not a treatable disease. Dr. Tanzler being SO in love with Elena offer his medical services to the family and claimed to them not only could he help treat Elena but also cure her tuberculosis!

He would bring countless x-ray machines, and various in hopes of curing Elena. She became bed ridden due to her illness so much of this “treatment” was done at her house. Not only did Dr. Tanzler bring these concoctions in hopes of curing her but also would lavish her with opulent gifts. However Elena never showed any interest in the doctor whatsoever.

Elena unfortunately succumbed to tuberculosis on October 25, 1931. Dr. Tanzler paid for all of the funeral expenses including an above ground mausoleum which unknown to Elena’s family Dr. Tanzler had a key to it.

For the next couple of years after Elena’s death Dr. Tanzler would go in the cover of darkness to visit her mausoleum. He would constantly go inside the mausoleum and into the casket to inject formaldehyde into her which something Elena’s grieving family had no idea what he was doing.  He was becoming really creepy and obsessed in visiting the mausoleum that it caused him to get fired from the hospital . And he nightly visits to the mausoleum quickly ceased after that.

However spending only nights with Elena was just not an option for the Doctor he decided that the better route was to take her decomposing corpse out of the mausoleum and into his home instead.

He then took her corpse and dunked her into wax and plaster of paris  and when her body starting decomposing more he would used wire to recostruct her body, refashion her hair was the falling out into a wig, use glass eyes when her eyes decompose and then place her in his bed so he can sleep with her. When the smell of her body was too much he would soak her in perfume and dress her in furs and jewelry.

The Hoyos family did not know what was going on until the town starting talking about rumors of Dr. Tanzler sleeping with the deceased Elena.  And in 1940 ( almost a full decade after Elena’s death) Elena’s sister confronted Dr. Tanzler about the rumors running all over town. Dr. Tanzler not only admitted to these rumors but he also invite the sister to visit Elena at his home!

Dr. Tanzler was arrested and was in court for “wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization.” (source: wikipedia). However the charges were dropped and Dr. Tanzler was set free because the limitations of that crime had expired.

After Elena’s body was taken from Dr. Tanzler the family had a public viewing for her in which thousands of people attended because at that point the story had become nationwide news but after that. Elena’s body was reburied in a unmarked and unknown (other than her family) grave site so she can finally rest in peace!!!

 

The crazy thing about this whole weird by true story is the Dr. Tanzler wife stood by her man the whole entire time this happen until her death!

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!

 

 

 

A couple of years ago I went to one of my favorite museum: Mutter Museum.  Located in Philadelphia, PA it is the first medical museum in the United States. It is named after Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter (1811-1859) because in 1858 Dr. Mutter donated a huge amount of his collection of medical tools, and specimens to the museum originally for educational purposes.

My last visit to the museum was in October 2015 and I went with Glenn. This was my second visit and his first so I don’t know how he would take in all of the interesting but fascinating content that the museum has to offer.

 

The museum only allows people to go in group when you enter the main exhibit floors so we got grouped with a coven of witches. Normally they mention to you when you buy your ticket to go inside that you are not allow to take photos but Glenn did anyway. So I would like to thank Glenn for taking these photos because I wouldn’t be able supply any photos for this post without him!

Even though the museum has over twenty thousand specimens about 13% is on display!

It is hard to just quickly walk by any exhibit while you are in there because a lot of the stuff is something you don’t see every day. I believe they still get specimens mailed in to them as donations like “picked human skin.”

When we went we saw a wall of human skulls titled “Adopt a skull” where people sent in donations to preserve the skulls along the wall so they able to restore the skull of your choice and mount back onto a stand. You were also able to name your skull and find out information about it like what the person died of and rough the location of where they were from and the age frame.

There are a lot of interesting sections of this museum like this this exploding skull and this exhibit of the “soap lady.”

This museum was well worth the trip there is something interesting and amazing about the early history of medical history. Glenn mentioned to me that “there was a lot of stuff in jars.” However I think this was a memorable experience for him and always an enjoyable experience for me as well!

If want something different to do this should be a consideration! Here is there website for more information about location and hours.

Mutter Museum

 

 

Until Next time!

 

Tenebrae is a movie directed by Dario Argento in 1982. It is one of my favorite giallo movies that he made. It is about a mystery author is is promoting his latest murder mystery book in Italy but it seems like his book is becoming a true crime novel because he gets these mysterious phone calls about killings in the area from the actual killer. The killer also goes on to tell him that the author’s latest book is the source of inspiration for this novels so the author is compel to figure who is taking his book too much to heart.

What is really impressive about this movie is the soundtrack. The soundtrack was produced and made by three members of the rock group Goblin. By the time this movie was being made the band had broken up by Dario Argento asked if they could just band together and make this soundtrack. Three of them agreed and I am really glad they did because  this is one of the most memorable soundtracks ever made in my personal opinion!

This soundtrack is  very 80’s filled with electric guitars and mimimoog and fits the high action moments in this movie.

My personal favorite  tracks from the soundtrack are “Tenebrae”

Which is the main title song of the movie and the beginning of the song is just so powerful!

“Lesbo”

Which kind of sounds like what soft jazz in the near future would be like. I usually have this song as one of my workout songs!

And “Waiting Death”

Which I feel like this track is worthy of any rock opera!

 

This soundtrack was reissued by Waxworks in 2018 as a limited edition version.

That version is hard to come by but you can still track down the original vinyl is not that much.  If you are a fan of horror soundtracks like I am then this is a must for your collection!

A fun fact about the soundtrack is that it was sampled by a French dj duo called Justice in their 2007 album!

 

 

Until next time!

 

 

 

Do you every feel like you are the outsider in your family? That you aren’t like that and the something makes you different then the people around you?

Well in 1989 director Brian Yuzna (this is this first movie he directed) created such a scenario in one of my favorite movies ever: Society.

Starring Billy Warlock as Billy Whitney the confused outcast son, and  Devin DeVasquez as Clarissa the love interest.

Billy live in wealth with his family in Beverly Hills, California and seems to have everything a spoil rich kid would want. He is popular at school, he is dating a cheerleader, is on the debate team and lives in a mansion in an elite zip code. However he feels like he does not fit in and goes regularly to a therapist to discuss his anxieties about not fitting into this rich group of people.

A lot of suspicious events is brought to Billy’s attention by  an ex boyfriend of his sister especially when a tape is produced of a horrific conversation that makes all of Billy’s anxieties very valid!

Billy confronts his family and his therapist about everything and in return he gets drugged by the therapist. He wakes up in the hospital only to escape and go back to his house where he finds the upper class society in Beverly Hills is a underground cult filled with orgy rituals and human sacrifices! He really finds out that he is the normal person in his family and tries to escape the clutches of society!

The first time I watched this movie I was so amazed by the special effects! So great I felt like I was watching an avant garde pieces for the last 30 minutes of the film.  I found out only later that the effects were made by Screaming Mad George. He made effects for movies such as a “Big Trouble in Little China” and “Predator.”

So if the plot line doesn’t seem interesting then I suggest watching the movie just for the visual effects it will probably leave a lasting impression!

 

Until next time!!

 

When I was little I used wake up in the middle of the night and sneak to where my brother was watching TV in the dining room. He would always watched this one show late at night and I would end up watching with him. I wasn’t sure what I was exactly watching but it seems like it was something cool to watch since my brother was cool and always admired anything he did. Decades later while  I was watching random youtube videos I saw this face: r

It automatically clicked in my mind from where I saw this gentleman! And it brought back so many good memories of waking up and watching this with my brother. So of course I ended watching as many videos I could find on youtube for the next couple of weeks!

Flash forward to  July 2018 when Shudder premiered “The Last Drive In with Joe Bob Briggs” you cannot imagine the excitement I had about this 24 hour up all night 13 movie marathon!!

I took the weekend off and stay indoors watching back to back horror movies with Joe Bob Briggs sharing unknown ( at least to me) facts about the movies and it was a pure delight!

So I am equally excited that Shudder made this a regular series!!!

The show is every Friday at 9pm EST on Shudder. He has show some great movies so far and one of my favorites! The good thing that it is on Shudder because if you miss a week you are covered because you can always watch it later! I enjoy watching this because it brings back good memories from my childhood. I also enjoy the guest stars that have made appearances and the witty banter between Joe Bob Briggs and Darcy the Mail Girl.

The series premiered two weeks ago and this has been the  movie lineup so far.

WEEK ONE:

WEEK TWO:

This Friday is week 3 and you better believe that I will be watching it!!!

Until Next time!!

 

This artist’s Spotlight is on IG: @clairydoingthings

 

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

“Hey! I’m Chiara, 28 and I came from a little country place near Bologna in Italy. I spent the last 7 years living la vida loca in Spain, one year ago I met Matteo and together we start to travel around the world.”

2. What is your art aesthetic?

“I never think about my style. I just think about what I want to do. Sometimes I take photos, maybe in front of a beautiful sunset, on the top of a mountain or in the middle of the desert. Sometimes I get the urge to “create” a photo, like a painter do.”

3. What kind of camera(s) do you use and why?

“I actually use a Mirrorless, the hype of the moment, more compact and light body to carry in your bag anytime. Right now I have a Fujifilm just because I love the colors of the photos it shoots.”

4. What is your favorite art you created and why?

“I don’t wanna be a cliché but like a lot of creative people I’m being tired of my photos just right after I create a new one. So the answer is every last photo I create and this is basically because I love to create.”

5. Is there any upcoming events you would like to share?

“I’ll be in Milano at East Market every 3rd Sunday of every month and you can find me and my photos there! ”

 

If you like to contact Chiara these are her social media handles:

Email: bolognesichiara@hotmail.com

IG: @clairydoingthings

Print shop: https://chiarabolognesi.bigcartel.com/

 

Until Next time!

This blog entry is brought to you by the letter C and the number 4.

 

Did you know that Margaret Hamilton did a guest appearance on Sesame Street? She did in February 10, 1976. She appeared as the Wicked witch of the West her most iconic role she ever played from the movie “The Wizard of Oz. ”

Margaret Hamilton appeared on Sesame Street in season 7 (episode 847) titled “The Wicked Witch of the West Loses her broomstick.”

The episode centers around the wicked witch of the west flying around Sesame Street when she loses her broomstick in mid air and when she tries to get it back. and finds that David (who is played by Northern Calloway) refuses to get her back her broomstick. Only because he is terrified that if he gives the broom back to the Wicked witch she might do some evil or cast a spell. She gets angry and causes havoc among Sesame Street by threatening to turn Big Bird into a feather duster and making a rainstorm in Mr. Hooper’s store.

Everyone on Sesame Street is really scared of the Wicked Witch except one muppet! Can anyone guess who?

Oscar the Grouch actually develops a crush on the Wicked Witch and is not shy about talking to her and is able to get everyone else from Sesame Street on board with him in not being fearful of others. So they ended up giving the Wicked Witch back her broom and flies back out with her broom out of Sesame Street.

The episode aired only once on February 6, 1976 and it only took a couple of days for the Public Broadcasting Service (better known as PBS) to received such a HUGE number of complaints from viewers about it.  Most of the complaints came from parents saying that the episode was too scary or caused a lot of distress to their children from watching it.

It confused the creators and PBS as to why they got these numerous complaints about this particular episode so during the month of March 1976 they had many test screenings of the same episode to see how the kids in those groups reacted to it. They were surprised to see from the multiple test screenings that the kids were not scare at all. Actually they were more curious anything else because of the Wicked Witch’s green color and they seem to be more interested in the segments that Margaret Hamilton was playing her iconic role then the other segments in the show.

However the creators of the show were deeply divided about the complaints they received from viewers and the results they got from the test screenings that they still went ahead and shelved that particular episode and has never been shown ever again.

 

I personally would love to see this episode because the Wizard of Oz and Sesame Street is two of my favorite things.

What is your opinion? Would you like to see this episode? Or is it better left alone on the shelved forever section?

Until next time!!!

 

 

 

When I used to visit my family in Central American the cable channels had limited movies they would used to show. So  I would see the same movies every night for weeks and one of those movies was “The Elephant Man” (1980) directed by David Lynch.

I remember watching this movie maybe 20-30 times and every time I would cry because didn’t understand why he was so mistreated because he looked different. He just wanted to be loved and be accepted as the person he was on the inside but because of his physically self he never got it.

When I finally came home from Central America I took my first trip to the library in my town and was reading about this movie. I was kind of surprised to find out that this movie was based on a real person.

Joseph Carey Merrick was born on August 5, 1862. His father was a warehouse man and his mother was  a domestic servant and was cited as having a physical disability which probably was carried onto Joseph Merrick.

Joseph had two other siblings but died of scarlet fever and myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord). When Joseph was born there were no physical or emotional disorders or deformities but apparently as early as the age of 1 1/2 up to the age of 5  he started  showing physical deformities. Such a “lumpy skin that was grey similar to an elephant.” (source Wikipedia), swelled lips, a huge deformation growing out of his forehead, extremely large feet and his arms were growing and looking differently than each other. His left arm was extremely enlarged and his hand was deformed in contrast to his right arm. On top of that he suffered a fatal fall when he was a child that damaged his hip.

He struggle in school and left his education by the age of 13 and tried to find work in  countless factories or selling things on the streets but was unsuccessful because his physical appearance and the wear and tear on him emotionally.

Joseph Merrick ended up leaving his home and his family due to the beatings of his father and the countless feelings of being a burden on his family financially and perhaps emotionally in 1877.

Joseph Merrick spent countless years trying to work in warehouses and getting surgery for a huge lump on his tongue. The lump was preventing him from eating and at that point Merrick was getting pretty frustrated not really being able to work and decided to become a “curiosity” instead.

Through many hands of managers of Merrick’s curiosity career Tom Norman was the one who mostly display Merrick.

Tom Norman would often display Merrick  in the back of one empty shops in a room with an iron bed and a curtain. Merrick would also double his work space as a bedroom so Merrick would hardly leave that space let alone the shop. His life was confined to four walls, and no friends and family. It was a chance meeting of Sir Fredrick Treves a surgeon who specializes in anatomy and Merrick’s only friend.

Eventually through many hardships Joseph Merrick  including being robbed by his manager all of his money he had left, becoming homeless and getting bronchitis . He was admitted by Treves to the London Hospital. Merrick spent the last of his years there and died on April 11, 1890 at the age of 27. His cause of death was asphyxia. Due to the weight of his head Merrick usually fell asleep in his bed sitting up however he want to feel a bit of normalcy and tried sleeping on his back which cause his neck to break.

Joseph Merrick’s body is part of Queen Mary’s University of London. It is a sad ending for a man who just wanted to be a regular person all of his life. It goes to show you that even with all of Joseph Merrick’s physically deformities there still was a heart of a person who just wanted to be consider a person. We can learn so much from his life and I am glad that I was so entranced by  “The Elephant Man” movie because it taught me to show empathy for others and to myself.

Until Next time!!!