TV Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981) produced by Alan J. W. Bell

At first, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a radio program broadcast on the BBC in 1978. It became wildly popular, becoming a six-part television program in 1981. Most of the radio cast is back. The story is largely unchanged, starting with the destruction of Arthur Dent's home to make way for a suburban highway bypass. That event is overshadowed by the destruction of the Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Luckily, Arthur's friend Ford Prefect is really an alien and found out about the demolition project. They manage to escape by hitching a ride on the Vogon constructor fleet that destroys Arthur's home world. Thus begins a comic adventure that stretches across space, time, and credulity. The story is episodic and immensely enjoyable. If you have never listened to it, read it (the novels are perhaps the most accessible format), or seen it, you owe it to yourself to have a very enjoyable time.

The TV series makes for an interesting adaptation. The voice actors from the radio do a good job as television actors. Arthur is played by Simon Jones as the quintessential British everyman. In addition to figuring out what's going on, he's looking for a good cup of tea. Different actors were used for Ford Prefect and for Trillian (the other surviving Earthling), whom they meet when they are picked up by Galactic President/Conman Zaphod Beeblebrox. In the radio program, Zaphod is describes as having two heads and three arms. The TV show does its best to recreate that but the special effects are really not up to snuff. The other head looks fake and lolls around a lot. Occasionally they have it talk, though it looks more like a cheap animatronic than an actual head. The third arm is usually tucked in Napoleon-style except for a few scenes where it looks like someone is standing behind the actor and sticking their hand out. Most of the effects are reminiscent of the old Doctor Who visual effects from the 1980s.

On the other hand, the computer graphics (which are actually hand-drawn animations) are fun. The various entries from the Guide are animated in an enjoyable, faux-informational way. They add an element that the radio obviously could not provide. The physical prop Guide looks like a bulky cell phone and the lettering is hardly as big and friendly as one imagines from the radio description. The music and sound effects stand the test of time, though they are basically the same as the radio show.

The show is more for Hitchhiker's completists. I wouldn't recommend starting here. The radio programs or the novels are the best way to get the story.

Recommended for fans of the story.

I watched it on Hoopla, a streaming service my local library has access to. I guess (from the ads tacked on the end of episodes) that it is available on streaming through Britbox. It's also available on Amazon Prime.

Movie Review: The Last Man on Earth (1964)

The Last Man on Earth (1964) directed by Sidney Salkow

Doctor Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the titular last man on Earth. A highly contagious airborne plague has wiped out most of humanity all over the globe. Morgan lives alone. He follows a monotonous routine of eating, gathering resources, and killing those who continue living after falling to the plague. When the plague started, rumors also started of the dead coming back to life. Is that the reason the government burned the infected dead rather than bury them? Morgan, as a man of science, scoffed at the idea and thought the burning was the best way to stop spreading the disease. Now that he is alone, he carves wooden stakes and hangs crosses and garlic on his doors. The undead know where he lives and come each night to get him and can't get past the defenses. They are too unintelligent to do more than throw sticks and stones at the house. By day, Morgan roams the city, killing the vampiric people as they rest and hide from the sun.

The story is based on Richard Matheson's I Am Legend (which was also remade as Omega Man with Charlton Heston and I Am Legend with Will Smith). The story is a classic with a long, slow burn for Morgan and an interesting twist at the end. This telling is fairly faithful to the text. Unfortunately, the version I watched is a very low quality transfer to streaming on Hoopla. The grainy footage and occasional mismatches between the video and the audio are quite distracting. The production didn't look like it had a big budget, either. Even so, a few moments of genuine shock happen. Price is good as always and carries most of the film. He has a voice-over that isn't entirely necessary, though the opening is slow enough that it does need something to help it along.

Slightly recommended--for fans of Vincent Price or the story who can handle a grainy old black and white film. I checked quickly on the Amazon Prime streaming version, which is much better quality for the first five minutes that I skimmed through. Watch there if you can (though probably avoid the colorized version)!

Book Review: Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 22 by Hiromu Arakawa

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 22 by Hiromu Arakawa

A desperate plan hatched by Alphonse captures Selim Bradley, aka the homunculus Pride. The rest of the heroes are converging on Central City, fighting the conspirators' forces along the way. In the city, they use a disguised ice cream truck to move about. Major General Armstrong reveals her intention to fight the President's men and escapes from inside the president's headquarters. Hopefully she can unite with the others to evade the "Day of Reckoning" that is threatening the whole country. Ed's reunion with his dad isn't so emotional since there's still so much to get done to foil the bad guys.

The story is exciting as ever with fun and intelligent action.

Recommended.

More Random Bits of Baltimore

We've been visiting Baltimore a lot since it is so close to home. These pictures include both pre- and post-pandemic times.

First is a picture of the ferry that crosses the Inner Harbor, making commuting more pleasant for people working both sides of the Inner Harbor.

Ferry and tugboat

Walking around the Fells Point neighborhood, we were impressed by a sign that was taken down but still visible!

An old sign

Maybe they can fix it up for the 100th anniversary?

A locally famous sign advertises the chance to eat Bertha's mussels, which is funnier if someone else reads it to you.

Just how hungry are you?

Fells Point is named after the Fells family. Some of the family is still there!

The Fells sold some land!

The family plot

The Fell's grave

The street where the grave is located

We went for a bike ride around the Inner Harbor, which meant we had plenty of good views of the harbor and some famous buildings.

Locally famous sugar plant

Some of the newer waterfront homes had fancy fountains.

Bird fountain

By the downtown is the Inner Harbor Water Wheel. The mechanism is designed to gather floating trash coming into the harbor from the Jones Falls Watershed. Jones Falls is a river that starts just north of the city. The water flows through town before hitting the harbor.

Inner Harbor Water Wheel

Looking upstream from the Water Wheel

The day was lovely and we had some nice views. We only stopped a few times, so I only took a few pictures. Maybe I should get out the old GoPro for our biking adventures.

No boats!

Inner Harbor

Paint Branch Trail Biking

The Paint Branch Trail is a paved path that extends from the Capital Beltway down to College Park, where the University of Maryland is located. We started on the north end near some tennis courts. The plan was to go explore the campus. We set out early, hoping the coffee/pastry shops around the school would be open.

Start of the trail

Paint Branch is one of the streams that feeds into the Anacostia River which runs into the Potomac River in Washington, D. C. The trail was mostly beside the river, though occasionally we crossed over it.

Bridge over untroubled waters

A view of Paint Branch

The path winds its way down through some neighborhoods and passes by a golf course. The trail is well defended from any stray golf balls that may threaten bikers, joggers, and strollers.

Shelter from golf balls and sunshine!

Our first sign of the college was a parking lot for the Xfinity Center. That's the arena where the men's and women's basketball teams play. The center also hosts other events and concerts.

What's that in the distance?

Even zoomed, it still looks far away

Further down the trail we discovered the academic part of the University. The computer science building is impressive.

CS HQ at UMD

The trail occasionally passes under roads.

The bridge was on us!

Near the campus is a hidden mural called the Paint Branch Bridge Mural.

Mural

More of the mural

End of the mural

The bridge also crosses over the Paint Branch. While I was admiring the mural, my kids were throwing stones into the water.

Paint Branch

We used our Google Map skills to find a coffee shop that was open and sold treats along with drinks. Vigilante Coffee Company is on the other side of Paint Branch from the campus, right under an apartment building that must be used by students. The shop was serving food but only as take out. They wouldn't let us inside! We had to go to their website on our phone to order some cookies.

The source of snacks

We had a fun ride back to the car. Somehow the way back is always faster than the way there.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Green Death (1973)

Doctor Who: The Green Death (1973) written by Robert Sloman and directed by Michael E. Briant

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) has finally gotten permission from the Time Lords to leave Earth. He tries to convince his companion, U.N.I.T. employee Jo Grant (Katy Manning), to go off-world but she wants to go to Wales. She sees news of a fatal mining accident seemingly caused by Global Chemicals. She wants to join in the protests and leaves the Doctor behind. The mining accident turns out to be much more bizarre and sinister--a man was brought up with glowing green patches on his skin. Global Chemicals is in charge of the mine site and doesn't want anyone investigating what's in the mine. The Doctor eventually catches up to Jo, though he has to go down into the mine since she's gone to help out another miner trapped down there. They find some creepy crawlies down there. But is the subterranean threat worse than Global Chemicals, which has been brainwashing its employees and is run by an unseen character called "The Boss"?

The story is an early 1970s cautionary tale about the evils of fossil fuel. Jo teams up with a local professor who's developing mushrooms as meat substitutes when he's not protesting Global Chemicals's activities. The ambiguity about the villain of the piece is interesting and keeps the viewer engaged. I found the revelation of who "The Boss" is disappointing. The evil maggots from the underground actually look decent though the episode has a lot of low-budget-looking green screen work that I found distracting.

Mildly recommended--this is a fairly run-of-the-mill classic Doctor Who series.

Book Review: Dark Horse Freebies

Dark Horse Comics has made a bunch of comics free to read during the pandemic lockdowns (it's still the spring/summer 2020 lockdown as I write). As with most mixed sets, it's a mixed bag. And since it's now late in the lockdown, fewer titles are available.

Lobster Johnson: Garden of Bones story by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by Stephen Green, and Geof Shaw, and colors by Dave Stewart

1930s pulp hero Lobster Johnson investigates a graveyard (the titular garden of bones) with his assistant Harry, hunting down a cop-killer who has an M.O. very similar to mob enforcer Big Benny Jeunot. The only problem is Benny is supposed to be six feet under and voodoo magic doesn't work on consecrated ground. They do have a run-in with Benny, leading to a small cult of Fimbakonu, which is not voodoo. The cult follows all the voodoo rules, leading Harry to save the day at the end. It's a fun story but pretty short. It's no longer available for free--sorry for the delay!

The Witcher Sampler by a large variety of artists

The Witcher started out in written form but exploded in popularity thanks to the video games and last year's Netflix television series. This collection of stories has Geralt of Rivia meeting various people. One man is all alone, except for his dead wife. The Witcher stays with him for a few days, developing a poignant connection that might save the man from more than supernatural problems. The second story is frustratingly incomplete (perhaps a marketing tool) where Geralt winds up on a ship bound for a mysterious rescue. The story ends as they board the ship. The final section has excerpts from "The World of the Witcher," a sort of encyclopedia of Witcher facts and figures.

I enjoyed the humor and action, though not enough to seek out the comics. Maybe if the library has them...

Choke Gasp! A Selection of Handpicked EC Comics Stories by many artists

EC Comics specialized in horror and the macabre. The TV show Tales from the Crypt was based on the EC comic of the same name. These stories include the tale of a former concentration camp commander who fled to America but whose past finally catches up with him (and rightly so). The next tale is of a butcher during World War II who started selling the good meat on the black market and, at first, sold horse meat to the regular customers. He rather quickly worked his way down the quality scale in order to make a buck. His substitutions finally catch up with him (and rightly so). The third story is about a WWII colonel whose son is a lieutenant under his command. Worse, the son is a coward. The colonel sends his son on a mission with some horrible results. The final tale is a blatant commentary on the stupidity and injustice of racism set in the far future on a planet where gold robots and blue robots live in different parts of town. The story was surprisingly relevant to today.

I found this interesting but not enough to make me search out other EC Comics.

Movie Review: The Great Debaters (2007)

The Great Debaters (2007) directed by Denzel Washington

In 1935 Texas, Wiley College is one of the few African-American schools in the American South. Professor Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington) puts together this year's debate team. He interviews forty-five candidates for four positions, winding up with good speaker/loose cannon Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams), son-of-theology-professor/teacher James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), and planning-to-become-a-lawyer Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), the first female ever on the debate team. The students' devotion and the teacher's commitment bring them success after success, putting them on the path to debate Harvard's team.

The story provides a lot more than just the academic ups and downs of the professor and his team. Tolson moonlights as a labor union organizer for both white and black farmers. They meet secretly and are occasionally persecuted by local authorities. Tolson's activities come to light, earning him the label "communist" and jeopardizing his academic standing. He demurs about his political stance--the movie seems to wink and nod in approval. The movie also deals with the overt racism of the time as the characters become part of tense confrontations and witness a late-night lynching from which they have to flee. These elements build naturally into the final debate at Harvard, making it more poignant and believable.

The movie is based on historical events and plays it straight for the most part. Washington is a little self-indulgent with his character, doing a few things that make no sense and others that are rip-offs from other films (like using Robin Williams's standing-on-the-desk routine). He is a fine actor and it's easy to gloss over the flaws for this entertaining and eye-opening film.

Recommended.

 Parental warning--the movie is rated PG-13 and is on the high end of the scale. The depiction of the lynching is horrifying and fairly graphic. Some of the discussions of how African-Americans were and are treated is very frank.

Book Review: The Apostle of the Marianas by Alberto Risco

The Apostle of the Marianas: The Life, Labors, and Martyrdom of Ven. Diego Luis de San Vitores 1627-1672 by Alberto Risco

This book from the 1970s was published by the Diocese of Guam to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the death of Father Diego Luis de San Vitores. He was a Spanish Jesuit who had a vision of himself dying as a martyr in Asia. He was born in 1627 and grew up in a well-to-do family. His family objected to his vocation but he was able to enter the priesthood early. After his vision in seminary, he kept asking to be sent to China or Japan. The order sent him to the Philippines, which meant stops in Mexico and the Pacific. He spent a few years in Mexico teaching at a university while he waited for a ship to the Pacific. He finally sailed west. The Spanish ships typically stopped in the Marianas Island, which were called the Ladrones Islands at the time. When Father Vitores saw the natives bringing out fruit and fresh water to the ship, he recognized them from the vision and wanted to stay. He obediently continued on to the Philippines where he worked as a professor, though he did plenty of street preaching. He kept requesting to be sent to Guam, the main island where the Spanish stopped for resupply. He sent letters to the head of his order and to his father to get help. Securing the islands both spiritually and as a port was attractive to the Spanish government, so they sent orders and some supplies for missionaries to go with some soldiers to establish a fort.

Father Vitores worked tireless among the natives and made many converts. As with any community, some were uninterested in the Christian faith and some were openly hostile. A war broke out between two villages on Guam, eventually turning into a fight against the Spanish soldiers and priests. After several other priests died, Father Vitores was also martyred. After his death, more personnel and resources were sent to the islands and the Spanish continued with their typical inculturation of the natives.

The book is an interesting mixture of scholarly research and hagiographic indulgence. The author did some thorough research in the Philippines and in Spain. Occasional footnotes cite letters from Vitores's time and a few other books on the Jesuits's activities. The author also is not shy about attributing miracles and visions to Father Vitores and his companions. For example, a priest on a different island had a vision of heavenly music and lights the night before Father Vitores came on a surprise visit. At another time, a painting of St. Francis Xavier (who was an inspiration for Father Vitores) in Spain sweated and wept when Father Vitores was suffering on the other side of the globe. I don't mind details like that but I do see how they can be hard to swallow.

Father Vitores was beatified in 1985 by Pope John Paul II, which is the second step (after being declared Venerable) on the way to canonization (i.e., being declared a saint).

Mildly recommended.

Biking the BWI Trail

The BWI Trail is a circular route around the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. We felt up to the challenge of bike the route. Our first task was getting all the bikes onto the back of the car on our new bike holder. We managed fairly well. Our daughter's bike is a bit small for the rack. We've ordered her a new bike that will probably fit better (if it ever comes in).

Bikes on!

The bikes and the family made it safely to the Observation Area south of the airport.

Ready to ride the loop

We went clockwise around the loop which meant we spent a lot of time seeing gates into the airport and following beside the perimeter roads.

Can't go there

Crossing an entrance road

The route is almost entirely paved. Occasional wooden bridges give a little variety. The route is well-marked, too!

Easy-to-follow signs

Definitely going around the airport

One of the sights on the route is a Northrop Grumman office complex.

A business on the other side of the road

Not every bridge is wooden. Plenty of the overpasses are concrete.

A bridge along the road

A bridge over the road

About half-way around the airport (i.e. at the north end), we left the trail briefly for a snack and bathroom break. A McDonalds is not far away and provided some welcome slushies and munchies.

The view from McD's

One hill has a nice view of the airport just below.

Looks farther than it was

The airport closer up

A train came by!

The trail winds past a horse farm. The horses were out. Signs warned visitors not to feed the animals. We saw a couple of horses but didn't get any pictures.

Horse barn

A little further on is an art installation following the aviation theme. We didn't stop to read the sign and the internet has failed me when I searched for the name of the work! I found some other pictures but no identifiers.

Art!

The Benson-Hammond House is just outside the airport property. It was built in the 1800s and is available to tour. We may give it a visit this summer if we can work out a time.

Benson-Hammond House

The second half of the trail felt more isolated from the road, more rural. We liked that a lot. Especially the shade.

A woody part of the trail

The whole trip was a little over ten miles and took us between two and three hours. We liked it a lot and are looking forward to other places to go biking in our area.

Back at the parking lot

The only thing we didn't get to do was take a picture of a plane taking off or landing. Every time one went overhead, my phone was in my pocket and it took too long to get out and unlocked for the photo.