this weekend: Dennis Nilsen Crimes That Shook The World

Dennis Nilsen will be on Investigation Discovery for the show Crimes That Shook the World. Tonight's airing is a repeat so I'm so glad I found it on the schedule and there are a few airings of it in the future. I had mentioned him before on the website.

Nilsen is the least covered on shows such as the ones found on Investigation Discovery. There are many other documentaries about so other serial killers. I think it is the most fascinating case because he preceded Jeffrey Dahmer. While living in London, working as a civil servant, he killed 15 men whom he befriended at the local pubs and, in each case, the book depicts his acts of disposing the bodies over a period of five years. Author Brian Masters wrote about Nilsen in the book Killing for Company. As the title indicates, Nilsen was, for several reasons, a victim of loneliness while at the same time his diary documents his guilt over the accumulation of victims. I remember when Dahmer was thought to be a unique case. He was saving bodies like Nilsen. Then trying to dispose of them in pieces. I don't keep the details in the front of my mind as they're very grim. They were both necrophile serial killers, but one difference is that Dahmer practiced cannibalism on his victims. You can see an excellent docu-drama titled Dahmer with Jeremy Renner expertly portraying Jeffrey. I'll post a review of it after viewing it. 

UNEDITED REVIEW of the episode: The video matches what I imagined while reading Masters's book. The English accent provides authenticity to the vivid details of evidence found in the plumbing. The actor who plays Nilsen was very understated and he looks very similar to Nilsen. I think it is remarkable that they put Nilsen in the back seat of the car without handcuffs and when he admits to how many more victims there are, the driver nearly drove off the road. The episode's x-ray graphics of the crime scene and the lighting of the re-enactments were well done. Nilsen's story is a modern day Jekyll and Hyde story where he'd wake up after a drunken stupor and discover he had killed again. He confessed that the decision to kill came from inside him. It took him over. Masters says that he fused love and death when he saw his dead grandfather. I think the most poignant moment was from the guy that survived who says that Nilsen tried to revive him. "Was he my killer or my savior?" The authorities don't state this but they discovered that Nilsen's first victim was a 14-year-old boy. Couldn't this also classify him as a pedophile if he had sex with him before he killed him?

R.I.P. Andy Hallett

I am devastated at hearing of the passing of the superb actor Andy Hallett. He played one of the best characters in the Whedonverse on television: "Lorne" from "Angel". He was an owner of a nightclub, able to read any person by having them sing for him. One of many memorable performances includes the song "Lady Marmalade" he sang in the "Vegas" episode called "The House Always Wins". He says in this interview that this was his favorite episode on "Angel."

I attended an event where he appeared as a guest. He mentioned briefly that he was ill earlier that year, but performed for us as if he was on top of the world. We never wanted him to leave. His presence in the room was obvious, but he was also generous and kind to his fans.

Like his fans, his fellow cast members must be just in shock. My thoughts are with Andy's friends and family; I wish them strength in saying farewell to whom they all must feel touched their souls.

Addams Family Musical - Broadway date set for April 2010

'Addams Family' musical sets date and here's a description, "Wednesday, eighteen years old and finally feeling what it means to be a woman," oh, that ought to be funny in a dark sort of way.

Official site for the Chicago premiere

I just hope it is a musical dark comedy, emphasis on dark, and that it honors Charles Addams, as it should.

Enki Bilal - Animal'z

My favorite European comic book artist is Enki Bilal, his new book is called Animal'z. I found an excellent documentary posted on Youtube that dates back to 1986.

This is a look at Animal'z.


I am working on the English translation.
the beginning contains a quote by Jean Baudrillard:
L’eau en poudre: il suffit de rajouter de l’eau pour obtenir de l’eau.
Water powder: just add water to get water.

I was able to find a translated interview with the artist, Enki Bilal.

If you are reading this and can read, write and speak French and would like to help me with the English translation of the book, please post in the comments a way to contact you on Myspace or using a format such as name {at} domain {dot} com.

Edited 2013/8 January
The comment from one of the kind Korner readers alerted me to find the link where you can obtain the Heavy Metal magazine January 2012 issue and the sample PDF on that page allows you to see 3 pages that are translated in English, but the entire issue is available for purchase. March 2012 also has 3 pages in the sample PDF, whole issue is available for purchase. Shipping to non-US addresses is possible.

THE PEOPLE VS GEORGE LUCAS trailer/teaser

Looks really good, from a fan perspective of loving the Star Wars IV, V, VI and not loving I, II, III. People this obsessed are fun to laugh at, but then I can look back at when I cringed at seeing Jar Jar and go, yeah, I felt ripped off. Jar Jar is not made of a miniature, human-operated, mechanical action figure we can touch and we missed that realism. We liked the scrappy methods of the 70s with the first movie; stop-motion animation in those grand scale scenes.

I understand, though, fans have a right to feel cheated after investing mostly their own money into the first three movies. They lost the joy in continuing on the path of collecting memorabilia. I agree, you have to constantly assess where your heart's at and draw a line at where it won't go.

Bye Y'all, "This is It"

Michael Jackson mocked on the new Late Night with Jimmy Fallon blog.

Victoria, Australia's wild life suffers terribly from the wild fires: please help!

Video of Sam the Koala drinking from a water bottle, found by a fireman

Kangaroos, possums, wombats and reptiles are scorched!

Help is needed and you can donate to the Bush Wildfire Appeal. Almost a million animals have perished but more are starving and showing up on the doorsteps as they are docile creatures, unafraid of humans. People are bringing them to the animal sanctuaries and the shelters need donations to keep them safe and healthy until they can be released back into the wild. Sacrifice your week's worth of cappuccinos, burritos, pizzas, takeout or snack foods and use the money to donate and save the wild animals.

The currency exchange from US to Australia dollars favors the US dollar. You can use a credit card to make a tax deductible donation online.

Tribute to Edgar Allan Poe

I went to Baltimore, MD, the weekend of January 30, 2009, to see a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe.

I enjoyed the songs masterfully and beautifully sung by Paula McCabe which included "Annabel Lee," "Amazing Grace," and "Auld Lang Syne."

The first act was a comedic play by John Spitzer of Fraudulent Productions, "Some Words With A Mummy," adapted from Poe's short story and it was particularly fascinating to learn about the Scarabaeus tribe, where Poe's short story describes "...all the Scarabaei embalmed accidentally while alive, are alive now. Even some of those purposely so embalmed, may have been overlooked by their executors, and still remain in the tomb."

The highlight was seeing John Astin on stage performing the poems of Poe and offering his eloquent perspective on Poe's writings, particularly surrounding the demons that haunted Poe throughout his life. Works we heard were "Alone," "The Conqueror Worm," "The Masque of the Red Death," "To Helen," "Annabel Lee," "The Raven," "Eureka," as well as others. Astin's stage presence was breathtaking and energized by the content of the poems. His sensitivity to the verse and meanings behind the words was profound. I hung on every word of "The Raven" as Astin added understated hand gestures, drawing us deeper into the story: "Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer Swung by seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor."

He closed with the mentioning of Poe's "Eureka" and explaining that the book Darkness at Night: A Riddle of the Universe devotes chapter 13 to Poe ("The Golden Walls of Edgar Allan Poe") because of "Eureka". Astin paraphrases some of Eureka -- the part in its entirety here: "If I venture to displace, by even the billionth part of an inch, the microscopical speck of dust which lies now upon the point of my finger, what is the character of that act upon which I have adventured? I have done a deed which shakes the Moon in her path, which causes the Sun to be no longer the Sun, and which alters forever the destiny of the multitudinous myriads of stars that roll and glow in the majestic presence of their Creator." Astin goes on to state that the author of Darkness at Night found Poe's words to be quite ahead of Einstein's time and his theories.

When the show concluded, John Astin sat and met the members in the audience, including myself pictured with him above.

I have to commend the organizers of the events for doing a wonderful job of paying tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. The ability to purchase the Poe postage stamps and other memorabilia made it quite convenient for Poe fans to enjoy the author and be in the company of other fans. The Poe Historical Society members were all dressed in period costume and the raffle at the end of the night included as a prize a cake with Poe's image. You can read more about what took place at the events on their blog.

For more events taking place in Baltimore, bookmark the Edgar Allan Poe Baltimore, Maryland Bicentennial Celebration website.

{article} Poe passion hasn't waned: John Astin keeps his memory alive

The Baltimore Sun did a wonderful write-up of John Astin's tribute to Edgar Allan Poe.

Tickets are available for John Astin appearing at Westminster Hall on January 31 and February 1. Go to: poebicentennial.com.

The Powerpuff Girls Special to air January 19

Set your TV tuners to January 19 for when "The Powerpuff Girls Rule" will air on The Cartoon Network. The one hour show will focus on Mojo Jojo, portrayed by Roger Jackson. Mojo Jojo sings two songs. One of the songs is "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," originally by Tears for Fears. Tom Kenny, whom plays The Mayor and the narrator among other voices on the 10-year old show, attended the premiere event that took place in Los Angeles. He said that Mojo Jojo stole the show, that when Mojo sang "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", it brought down the house.

UPDATE: Here's the full article about the broadcast and marathon of episodes preceding the special airing.

If you catch the new episode, feel free to leave comments under this post. I do moderate comments just to weed out the spam.

Roger Jackson's Robot Chicken episodes

Here are two of the three Robot Chicken episodes that star Roger Jackson

Robot Chicken's tribute to Star Wars #2

Adult Swim recently aired Robot Chicken's 2nd Star Wars tribute episode. I commented after the 1st episode aired in the Adult Swim Robot Chicken forum that the part of Star Wars I wanted to see satired in a Robot Chicken special was the scene where they are being taken to dinner by Lando Calrissian and they are surprised with seeing Darth Vader waiting for them. Here's the way they did it:

And here are two other Robot Chicken funny segments:

Christina Ricci in beautyLIGHT - GQ

Christina Ricci seen in this photo as part of GQ's piece about Matthew Rolston.

more Robert Smigel at SF Sketchfest

Adding to the prior post about SF Sketchfest, tickets are on sale for "The SF Sketchfest Comedy Writing Award: Robert Smigel in conversation with Dana Carvey". You can spend your $32.50 ($25.50 plus the $3.00 order fee plus $4.00 fee for something not described) to attend; seats are general admission. I'm not a fan of the "2 drink minumum" enforced policy at the venue. Easily you can spend $10 on nothing but soda and the tip. They hold your credit card hostage, too.

Have a prediction for 2009?

Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell 2009 Predictions show airs Tuesday and Wednesday, December 30 & 31. How many of 2008 predictions get "bonks"? how many "dings"? I'm gonna try to re-listen to the shows I downloaded last year and, if any have come true and he misses it, I'll use the "fast blast" option to tell him. Do you have any predictions? You can't call in with death or assassination predictions. We all must quiet our dark under-used minds and search our pitiful souls for real predictions for 2009.

(updated 12/8/2020 to remove the call in link)

IFC Documentary: Goth Cruise

Wednesday's worst nightmares: 1) visiting tropical destinations, 2) standing still for more than an hour in the sun, 3) a cruise vacation. Yet, 150 goths did it and IFC is showing the documentary in January 2009.

TV Funhouse and Harold and Maude - SF Sketchfest 2009

SF Sketchfest tickets went on sale today. I'm looking forward to the tribute they're doing for Harold and Maude's Bud Cort. They also have the greatest Comedy Central show live on stage: "TV Funhouse Live with Robert Smigel, Dino Stamatopoulos and Doug Dale featuring the Anipals and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog with Birthday Boys".

No, really, Britney?

The controversy about "If You Seek Amy" song by Britney Spears to sell her album, major groan. I can't believe that she's a mom and seeks this attention after all the crap she has been pulling. There's a San Francisco-based teen coach speaking about it on her blog. What's with the "flirty" pop song now not being so innocent. Is sweet innocence so lame? Let's just give it away, all you girls are worth nothing, give away your sweet innocence! Yeah, be into the material stuff. Look at where it got us?

Stains, the Fabulous Ones

There's this really cool guy that loves the movie Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, in fact, he is THE expert that Rhino Entertainment contacted in preparation for the DVD release of the movie. They didn't budget for a commentary so he recorded one and posted it online. And, yes, there's a blog on Myspace explaining the details of how it all came to be that he recorded a commentary. It's probably the best gift you can give a music fan for the holidays or any occasion.

Edgar Allan Poe - Bicentennial Events

Wednesday's heart doth skipped a beat having wondered if she possibly missed the tickets-on-sale date to any of the 2009 Bicentennial Events honoring one of her favorite writers, Edgar Allan Poe. The events in her deeply-focused mind feature John Astin, yes, the famous John Astin whom portrayed Gomez Addams in "The Addams Family" and whom has starred in one-man shows portraying Mr. Poe.

In her careful analysis of flight options from the West Coast to Baltimore, she notes that major inaugural events are occurring near this time, therefore, it may be difficult to cheaply fly to the ones taking place Jan. 17 and 18. Perhaps many other travelers are using those flights to get themselves as near to DC as possible.

Then, with much more curiosity and desire for honoring the much celebrated writer, she spies further down the events page that it states, "The major event after January will be the funeral for Edgar Allan Poe complete with a horse drawn hearse with period coffin and body. This promises to be the big event of the bicentennial. The date will be Saturday, October 10, 2009. Due to the high level of interest two services will be held." Most intriguing, but not surprising, "John Astin has shown great interest presiding over the funeral." Oui, mon amour, how does one not take great interest, indeed!?

Edgar Allan Poe will also be celebrated outside of Baltimore, mostly for the fact that he spent 13 years in Richmond, Virginia. Poe wrote in a letter, "I am a Virginian--at least I call myself one, for I have resided all my life, until within the last few years, in Richmond." The Poe Revealed 2009 events page has many offers of ways to celebrate Mr. Poe.

Other cities with events include, Philadelphia, Boston, Eagle, Wisconsin; possibly The Bronx, NY.

And there's an RSA Conference using Edgar Allan Poe as the theme of their event because Poe was interested in crytography.