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LA FLORIDIANA
The History of Aviation in Florida, Part One: 1911 to 1917, Early Heavier-than-Air Flight
 by Will Moriaty

THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW
"Love Actually"
 by Mike Smith

COUCH POTATO
TV Shows I'd Like To See
 by Vinnie Blesi

MATT'S RAIL
Forry, Ferry, and Me
 by Matt Drinnenberg

MIKE'S RANT
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'....Another List....In The Hall....Happy Birthday....Moving On
 by Mike Smith

LETTERS
Nolan's Pop Culture Review, 2003!
Established A.D. 2000, March 19. Now in our fourth calendar year!
Number 191  (Vol. 4, No. 47). This edition is for the week of November 17--23, 2003.

Peace for the Holidays?

Also...
SCREAMFEST '03   by Andy Lalino
JFK: 40 years later
Michael Jackson: the newest scandal

As the unearthly news of Arnold Schwarzenegger being sworn into the California governor's office sinks in, I'm reminded of where we thought we were going to be by this time: the war in Iraq over, all our soldiers home and whatever the hell President Bush was looking for over there, he found.

Not even close.

Although he won't commit to a timetable, Bush says it won't be "years and years" of occupation ahead for us. I hope so, because there seems no end in sight at this point. OK, OK, I promised everyone I wouldn't get so political, but dammit, what are -- or were -- the real goals here? He seems proud of some kind of victory, but of what? What happened to Osama Bin Laden? Or Saddam Hussein, for that matter? As the weeks and months wear on, the true motivations become clearer in what is missing from his rhetoric as well as what it contains.

OK, I'm done now.

SCREAMFEST 2003      by Andy Lalino
An enjoyable and thorough personal recollection, mixed with filthy references we've come to expect...

SCREAMFEST '03 REPORT_____ Risking the wrath of Terence (hell, when am I not risking the wrath of Terence?!?) I wanted to give PCR readers a Special Report on the cool Horror Convention recently held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on Nov. 8th & 9th called "Screamfest 2003". Yes, Terence, I went there to promote my movie "Filthy" (everybody sing along: dubya, dubya, dubya, dot filthee-thuh-moovee dot com --N), and had a blast!

First off, it's interesting to point out that the title "Screamfest" is also the title of a popular horror film festival in Los Angeles, which I actually attended in October. Hopefully, fans were not confused by the two event titles (which I believe caused a conflict between the two parties involved), in which suffixes were added: "Screamfest LA" and "Screamfest 2003" to avoid confusion.

I arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Friday night at around 11pm and met my wife at the convention hotel, where we proceeded to get some shuteye for the big weekend. We actually set up a booth for the convention, sharing the space with Kerry Hogan and Porl Denicolo (a.k.a. Larry and Moe respectively; the fashionably absent Rick Danford being Curly) from Renegade Films, there promoting the release of "The Pledge" on DVD (and selling cheap S&S III T-shirts - get 'em while they're hot!). The dealer's room was decently large with vendors selling a fairly impressive variety of merchandise (too many bootlegs) and an equally impressive showing of indie horror filmmakers, which I will get to in a moment.

After setting up shop, I was joined by "Filthy" Sound Designer/Music Composer extraordinaire Eddie Sturgeon, who along with my wife was an enormous help that weekend. "Filthy" would be shown 12 noon the following day (Sunday), so Eddie and I broke away from the booth action to peruse the floor and catch presentations by Florida drive-in filmmaking legends Herschell Gordon Lewis ("Blood Feast I & II", "The Wizard of Gore") and Bill Grefe ("Stanley", "Impulse", "The Death Curse of Tartu"). Later in the day we were joined by award-winning "Filthy" Production Designer Kevin Bailey, his girlfriend Wendy, and sister Shannon, who came out to support the movie and the convention. It was Kevin's birthday that day, and he celebrated it that night with his family who live in West Palm Beach.

While we all made the rounds in the dealer's den, we ran across many familiar faces, namely The Creature himself, John Lewis, and daughter Ashley. John was enthusiastically promoting his new projects. I wish I could have had more time to spend with him, but we both had to attend to potential inquisitors of our work. I also ran into FearFilm's Robert Massetti, who's a hell of a nice guy, who was there familiarizing everyone with the latest FearFilm projects and DVD's. I bought a copy of "Phobias", part of which I saw at Saints & Sinners II titled "When Shadows Lie Darkest". Unearthed Films' Steven Biro also made an appearance at the festival, selling copies of Japanese gore films for which Unearthed is famous for. I also ran into other filmmakers pitching projects like Detroit's "13 Seconds" and an interesting feature called "The Flew".

Sat. night I briefly stopped by the hotel's club, where Linnea Quigley was jamming with her band. I got the opportunity to chat with Phantasm's Reggie Bannister, mostly about Don Coscarelli's "Bubba-Ho-Tep", which incidentally is debuting in Tampa this weekend! Go out and support it!

The following day (Sunday) was our big day, because we got to show "Filthy" to the convention crowd. The convention seemed a little disorganized when it came to showing the indie features; the projectionist was going to show "Filthy" at 10am instead of 12 noon (we had to stop him or else it would have played to an empty room). In fact, in the Screamfest '03 program it didn't show times for the films at all, so we had to spread it word-of-mouth to the patrons all day Saturday. "Filthy" actually played half-an-hour early (11:30am) to an enthusiastic crowd. Attending the showing were: award-winning "Filthy" Costume Designer Julie Bartel and award-winning actor John ("Rocky") Biebrich, John Lewis, Ashley Lauren, Florida Horror filmmaker Tony Ramirez (www.childhoodproductions.com) and his friend Scott (both, like me, Home Shopping Network denizens), and other fans who had seen the movie at the Saints & Sinners III film festival. Once again, "Filthy" seemed like it was well-received, and I think we did our job well promoting the movie in South Florida.

Later that day, Eddie and I made our way to the "celebrity room" where we got the opportunity to chat with our beloved artists who impacted our horror-loving lives! I got to chat in-depth with Bill Grefe, who apologized for a grim lecture on the realities of indie filmmaking - it was a great conversation. Next, we moved on to Vernon Wells ("Wez" from "The Road Warrior" - one of the greatest sci-fi characters of all time) table where Eddie and I proceeded to chat with Vernon for well over half an hour, proceeding to ask endless questions about George Miller and the making of "The Road Warrior". Learned a lot, including the scoop on the "original ending" of the film, and the beginning intro scene, which was also cut from the film (explaining more about who exactly was "The Golden Youth" character).

Lastly we met Basil Gogos, the venerable artist who painted the unforgettable Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine covers. We had a great time sifting through portfolios of his work. Gogos lives in Manhattan and wishes to someday visit Tarpon Springs (he's Greek)! I was amazed to learn he owns only one cover (the famous image of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein from FM #56) and hardly owns any issues of the magazine! Incredibly, this young man comes up to him while we were there, opens up a gym bag, and proceeds to hand Gogos an armful of back issues in exchange for a signed edition. Gogos humbly accepted! It was a very cool moment, especially seeing a kid about 10 years younger than me into FM. Only trouble was he brought along some issues which Gogos did not paint (it was funny hearing Gogos state: "That's not mine! That's not mine!" gruffly!). It was a touching scene nonetheless. On our way out we met up with Linnea Quigley and Reggie Bannister (with his wife Gigi) again. I did not get the chance to meet Dawn of the Dead's Ken Foree, Chainsaw '74s Ed Neal and Gunnar Hansen unfortunately. Maybe next year. Bill Hinzman was also present promoting "The Flesheater" DVD, which he plays the same zombie that attacked sis Barbara in the original NOTLD (Hinzman also directed).

We packed up early that evening and made our way back to Clearwater, suitably enjoying all the horror-filled excitement of the weekend!

JFK: 40 years later
Saturday, November 22, 2003 marks 40 years since President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. In addition to my other obsessions in life, the JFK assassination, that nightmare on Elm Street, loomed large over my conspiracy "studies" all during my growing years (Ufology, cryptozoology, mysterious deaths/disappearances, weird science anomalies and yes, cheezy movies also took hold then, but that's another topic).

My boss at work is so fed up with hearing Kennedy conspiracies he's ready to fire anyone who brings it up. I found that incredible, because to a Boomer conspiracy buff, that's like, a required conversational topic at least one time out of hundred, you know? (Like Roswell, "Is Paul Dead?" and "Did George Reeves really kill himself?" But I digress...)

For the longest time I was convinced not only that Oswald was the wrong guy, but that he may not have even been in the School Book Depository, or at least not on the 6th floor. After listening to hundreds of hours of testimony, research, deposition, watching TV specials, and reading all the books, I reached the conclusion that Oswald, if present, and on the 6th floor with a gun, was part of a much larger picture (Oliver Stone's picture JFK pretty much states my position). Then the House Assassinations Committee of the late '70s reached the conclusion there was a second gunman -- but curiously, the gov't never acted upon that startling revelation.

Now, forty years later, after all the dust has settled, more and more studies are seeming to conclude Oswald was the Lone Nut after all. I hate that. Why? After all this time, we're no closer to solving it, so everyone's giving up and going home? Why is it so hard for me and so many others to believe Oswald acted alone? Why is it so odious to believe that one little man could change history?

Because it's not fair. It's not fair to see one little nebbish, acting on impulse, take advantage of laxed security, bring down a popular American president, end Camelot, and change our lives forever. (For the sake of brevity, I'll skip the bullshit autopsy, the President's missing brain, and a host of other objections--some other time, perhaps). Much better to believe that BIG DANGEROUS IMPORTANT PEOPLE, like Castro, Kruschev, the Mob, the CIA, and god knows who else planned this for months. That balances the equation. And that Oswald was placed where he was placed so he could be The Patsy.

OK, enough. I'll still watch all the specials and read all the books. The truth is out there and someday...SOMEday....this will be satisfactorily resolved.

Michael Jackson: the newest scandal.
Hey, who saw this coming? Huh? Come on!!!!!


Announcements
You are invited to come celebrate Schwarzenegger's taking oath to office party this Friday night.
Just Kidding. This Friday night four young men from Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale will present new works at Covivant Gallery.
NOVEMBER 21-DECEMBER 28, 2003
Budget Thugs & By Default. Opening Reception: Friday, November 21, 2003 8PM-MIDNIGHT. Covivant Gallery & Studios, 4906 N. FLorida Ave. Just south of Hillsborough Ave. Suggested donation: $5 / students $2. Aesthicized Presents: DJ Omega Man (hiphip, electic etc)
DJ Criag Kaths (Fun, dancy eveverything)
Jeremy Gloff (stripped down indie pop)
Arcade Inferno (two man rock and roll)
IN the main Gallery: Budget Thugs is a three-person exhibition of mixed media paintings, sculpture, installation and ceramics by emerging artists Brandon Dunlap, Tim Warner and Jeff Vreeland. All three artists take mixed media approaches to their work, utilizing traditional and nontraditional materials and techniques that reveal their individual worldviews while intentionally rebuffing their fine art training. Dunlap creates paintings and ceramics which often incorporate screen printing and other printmaking techniques with painting and drawing. Always with an eye towards process, chance, experimentation in color, and theme and materials, Dunlap generates a body of work which is seeped in pop culture and its destruction and decay. Warner creates sculptural paintings in which spray painted and stenciled figures cut in wood, jut out from their backgrounds of housepaint, glitter and stain, revealing people and things in uneasy situations and relationships that disclose the horror and absurdity of first world living. Vreeland's work is an incorporation of printmaking and process oriented experimentation with the old masters techniques of oil painting. He brings stenciling and staining together with photo realism to make work which examines themes of faith and spirituality and its corruption in modern times. For this show, the three artists chose to show together as a reflection of further unity in an art scene from which they often feel out of step with, as well as a way to continue forth with efforts of collaboration and future projects. Much of the work for this show (which includes the aforementioned paintings as well of ceramics and installation) comes from similar interests by the artists in pop culture, graffiti aesthetics and the championing of the experimental in art. Furthermore, shared themes of urban decadence and decay, apocalyptic notions of a world too far gone in its own excesses are ubiquitous throughout this exhibition. Each individual piece combines spontaneous reactions with the deliberate, to create a bipolar or dualistic aesthetic, as well as ideas of sampling and reconstructing iconography, especially those in popular visual culture.
In the small gallery: By Default, artist, Books IIII, of Fort Lauderdale, will also feature graffiti based stencil art containing social commentary, fantasy, and personal beliefs that are all part of a book.
SATURDAY November 29th 2003 SOUL MOTIVE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: LOCAL VU. Local VU is the second event in a series of sound installations in which the Soul Motive culture of live electronica shares the space and energy of the visual arts community. Soul Motive will be augmenting Covivantšs main gallery and courtyard with two separate sound systems for this event. Local VU will be featuring the performances of five of Tampašs and Orlandošs finest underground electronica acts and six local DJs with visual artists creating pieces inspired by and in the moment. The first 100 guests will receive a numbered limited edition CD release featuring the producers and live PA electronica acts contributing to this LOCAL VU. Performing live at LOCAL VU: TRACE ELEMENT (pure tone), R_GARCIA (nophi), MODULAR (soul motive), FUNCTION (broken-record.com), MEDICATED (approach recordings). With DJs: CLRH20 (hallucination, force recordings, stateside, evilbase), Eddie V. (the groove, IDS, E-Dub), Mr. Luigi (prowler), Thee Joker (temple records, liquid sky, stanton), Dimeš (sumo), Eris (soul motive).
Cover/door: $7, 9PM until 3AM
Location: Covivant Gallery 4906 N. Florida Ave. 813.234-0222
Contact: 813.231.3107 anomalous@soul-motive.com,
Misc:
www.covivant.com
www.elastik.com/trace/trace.htm
www.nophi.net/rg/
www.soul-motive.com
www.broken-record.com
www.sumosounds.com
contact : Carrie Mackin @ 234-0222 or carrie@covivant.com


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"Mike's Rant" is ©2003 by Michael A. Smith    "Matt's Rail" is ©2003 by Matthew Drinnenberg     "La Floridiana" is ©2003 by William Moriaty     "This Week's Movie Review" is ©2003 by Michael A. Smith    "Ashley's Hollywood" is ©2003 by Ashley Lauren Lewis    "Creature's Corner" is ©2003 by John Lewis    "Couch Potato Confessions" is ©2003 by Vinnie Blesi    "Murder on the Woo Woo Express" is ©2003 by Patty G. Henderson     All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2003 by Nolan B. Canova    
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