#howard st. john

[esqueletosgays]

STRAIT-JACKET (1964)

Director: William Castle Cinematography: Arthur E. Arling

[moviesludge]

god forbid I just go about my business

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Strait-Jacket

Joan Crawford has two entrances in William Castle’s STRAIT-JACKET (1964, Tubi, YouTube) that suggest two very different movies. In her second, following the titles, she steps off a train after having spent 20 years in an asylum. She’s tentative, vulnerable and very moving. Had Castle drawn on that, he might have had a delicate story of a mental patient adjusting to life on the outside, the senior version of HOME BEFORE DARK (1958). But that wouldn’t be a William Castle film. Her first entrance, in a pre-credits prologue set in the 1940s, is like her entrance in RAIN (1932). You get bits of a garishly dressed woman stepping off a train. Crawford, at 60 trying to play a hot babe in her 20s is high camp, though not of the knowing John Waters variety. There’s something sad about watching her go over-the-top, seemingly without realizing it, as she draws on tricks that sometimes worked back when she had good scripts.

And this is not a good script (that may not be screenwriter Robert Bloch’s fault; the script had to be re-written to make it a Joan Crawford film). In the flashback, Crawford catches her husband cheating and chops him and his mistress up as their little girl watches. Twenty years later, Crawford is out of the asylum to meet her daughter (Diane Baker), who insists she dress as she did when she was younger. At times it’s embarrassing, particularly when Crawford starts trying to act like her younger self and comes on to Baker’s boyfriend (John Anthony Hayes, an actor so wooden, you expect his leading ladies to get splinters). And then the killings start back up. Crawford’s performance, like the writing of her character, is all bits. To make matters worse, they’re often poorly played bits. She only really works playing the character’s vulnerable side. When she loses her temper or gets hysterical or tries to be seductive, it’s laughably bad, though she’s also so magnetic you can’t look away. Until the writing does her in. Baker comes off much better. Once you know the final twist, you can see how skillfully and subtly she works out her character arc. Leif Erickson is jovial and caring as Crawford’s farmer brother. Rochelle Hudson is his wife. Every time she has to deal with Crawford’s problems, she looks as if she were smelling something bad. Also with George Kennedy as a farmhand, Pepsi vice president Mitchell (don’t quit your day job) Cox as Crawford’s psychiatrist, Edith Atwater and Howard St. John as Hayes’ snooty parents, and Lee Majors, making his film debut as Crawford’s husband. To survive this one, he’d need a bionic head

[abs0luteb4stard]

🪓 W A T C H I N G 🪓

[milliondollarbaby87]

Strangers on a Train (1951) Review

When tennis star Guy Haines meets psychopath Bruno Antony on the train, he is about to be drawn into a theory that the perfect murder exisits if it is two strangers who have no link to the person. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Continue reading Strangers on a Train (1951) Review

[rwpohl]

sanctuary, tony richardson 1961

[gatutor]

John St. Polis-Constance Cummings "El código criminal" (The criminal code) 1930, de Howard Hawks.

[christology101]

Relevance or Irrelevance of Christianity...

Let us begin with this premise: When we stop asking the challenging, difficult and uncomfortable questions, we stop thinking and growing, and we cease to be what God intends and diminish the gifts He has given to us. When we cease to explore and probe, we cease to be anything else than a simple beast, or in some cases flora or a solid rock [immovable and unthinking].  We must recognize what differentiates us from a rock, a tree, and the common beast [whether from an evolutionary perspective or a creation perspective, the answers are not too dissimilar].  To this, let’s add another: you cannot use laws, regulations, and force to transform someone’s soul and belief system [not in a single lifetime - through generations, you might transform the masses, but it would be inch-by-inch]. Perhaps one more: Christ is good, Christianity, not so much.  Tradition is also good, but traditionalism is bad. 

Here beginneth the lesson/questions:

If you look at others in disdain, feel better than or superior to others, feel ill-will to others, treat others poorly or as less than human, with a base form of inhumanity, or classify others as somehow different [and because of that, lesser], then how in any way do you reflect Christ?  How would you expect anyone to see Christ’s Light through your actions and words?  We need to remember that it is not our time in church, not our prayers, and not our sense of piety that delivers the loving light of Christ and His Word to others [and so spreads the message of peace, love, and joy which dominate the Word].  We need to listen attentively to criticism and test ourselves to make sure we actually send out Christ’s message, not our own, not that of another entity wrapped in a paper mache version of Christianity, and not an idol or power.  Since so many groups and sects claiming to be Christian have spewed or supported things like this, and we justly and logically lump them together under the banner of Christianity, what goods does Christianity demonstrate?  What value(s)?  Is Christianity, in the real world, representative of Christ and His Word?  

Consider the WWJD stickers, wristbands keychains and visual images…  If we truly ask What Would Jesus Do, would He put on a bumper sticker or somehow throw it in your face or would He behave and approach it differently?  How would Jesus speak AND act towards others that spoke volumes to their souls and let them see not just the Inner Light and Love but the Eternal Flame that only He can spark?  If we truly ask WWJD, then we would not need a constant personal reminder nor would we flaunt the idea in front of others.  Instead, by the Loving Light of His Guidance and Word, we would both demonstrate His Love and speak with His Beauty in every word.  

Something else for us to contemplate and meditate upon, and if truth be known it should not take us very long, is to which political party would Jesus belong?  By the way, the answer is NONE!  He would not side with any party or nation, period.  If you question this, then look back upon His walk with us.  Would He gravitate towards the Romans?  Would he side with King Herod [paying particular attention to the king part]?  Would He find more in common with and follow the Saduccees and Pharisees?  Since they are the only political and religious leaders with whom He interacted, where would be the basis for any claim that Jesus would support any political, religious, or other control mechanism or leadership?  You will hear someone say, with all fervor and conviction, that God loves their party or leader.  Like he loved Herod?  I would accept that as He loved all of us and forgave all, that yes, from that perspective He loved Herod, but would He follow Herod?  Would He do His bidding?  There is ZERO biblical evidence to even slightly suggest this as a possibility, so therefore He would not love a political leader.  Some will point to the Old Testament, the likes of Solomon and David.  Well, it is the Old Testament, and we were released from the sacrifices therein by Christ’s blood and as He taught from it, He also took us to the next level.  Would anyone, given Christ’s interactions with the leaders and powers of His time on earth, say that He loved those leaders or powers?  As God loved David, Solomon and other leaders, they also fell all-too easily from grace and failed.  We must recognize that we are all, these flawed humans, clothed in error and faults. Would anyone, with a soul emptied of the world and its influences, claim that any leader today is David or Solomon, Moses or Abraham?  If you remove the world, how can you?  

As a lesson or marker for the soul in its search for an earthly leader to gravitate toward and attach to [in some cases like a barnacle], should we not at least ask these questions:

1. What has this person done to show Christ-like character?  A moral center? 

2. What acts of kindness has this person done?  

3. What words of support, care, and encouragement, grounded in Christ, has the person uttered or shown? 

4. How can we see Christ through this person, if at all?

5. What policies, actions, and behaviors of this leader and his/her minions and followers demonstrate Christ?  

Where did Christ show exclusion and selectivity?  Where did He show cruelty or indifference to suffering?  Where did He mistreat His neighbors and associates?  Where was He rude or crass?  Where did He mock others?  Where did He treat women differently from men?  Where did He say to ignore suffering and cruelty?  Where did He say to follow a worldly leader?  Where did He say to hoard money and goods, to steal or swindle your neighbor, or to promote self over others?  I’ll wait…  

We as flawed human beings have a sincere problem dating back to the most ancient of recorded times and witnessed all through the Bible.  Even with God shining through and if not visible at least present, we desire a physical human being or idol to worship in His place.  We have used kings, political leaders, some civic leaders, but always a surrogate and petty replacement…  Not even a mere shadow of that which is Holy, but upon which and whom we laud all manner of imagined wonders and praise.  God warns us, time and again, not to fall into this trap, but our lack of faith drives us to find relief and strength in a human and worldly form.  We cannot fully place our faith in a God we have not seen, as much as we cry and screech that we do, as much as we claim we do, as much as we go to church and try to mimic and speak all manner of piety and belief, we throw ourselves at the feet of worldly leaders, powers, and dominions.  Only the soul which has dampened out the world and all the enemies, which has passed through darkness and emptied itself of the world and let Christ’s Light shine in and reignite and fully spark it, can see clearly and grow out of infancy and dependence upon something earthly upon which to suckle instead of something Divine and Eternal.  We know not, in doing this evil, that we quite literally suckle death and eternal suffering.  

“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.” - John Milton, Paradise Lost. 

In our vain attempts to create a legislated heaven [notice the lower case] on earth, we have behaved in a manner equal to if not greater than the Saduccees and Pharisees, and we wonder why less people believe and why more people criticize.  If we have to pass laws, legislate, and force obedience to what we perceive as Christian doctrine and Christ’s teachings, if we rely upon that and make that our goal and ends [through support for the political parties, leaders, powers, and dominions], how is anyone supposed to see Christ’s Light?  How is anyone to see the light in you?  If you require force and coercion, what kind of Faith is that?  How are you demonstrating Faith in Jesus Christ?  Time to show AND tell.  By actions and statements, by grafting unto worldly and earthly leaders and forces, we SHOW those who do not believe, are lost in the forest or mire of the world, that there is no Faith, only laws.  That form of legalism is one of the many things Christ came to remove and replace. What possible worth can anyone see in a so-called Christianity riddled with government and earthly laws, rules, regulations, punishments, and restrictions?  Where is Free Will?  A just and valuable question from them, you say you believe in Faith and Free Will, yet at every point you restrict free will and deny faith through all these statements, rules…  How am I to see anything about those from you or the government?  How is Christ relevant to me or anyone if this is His world?  Are not all these methods, governmental rules, laws, restrictions…  attempts to make people throw on the costume and covering of Christ without any depth into the spirit, heart, and mind?  Do they not simply pigeonhole the individual into a form of obedience that mimics Christ-like behavior and lets people playact the role with no more substance than an actor on the stage?  Where is the actual acceptance of Christ?  The hard work to open the soul to Him?  Where is the light within kindled by Him and brought to full flame through a closer relationship with Him?  If we break it down, are we not saying, “Believe like us or die?”  Is this the way of Christ?  

One of the root questions has to be, how is Christianity and Christ relevant?  What have we done to make Him and it relevant and what have we done to make Him and it irrelevant?  It’s not sacrilegious to ask the questions because they should increase our strength in Him if we honestly explore and answer.

Want to make Christ and Christianity completely irrelevant?  Say you are a Christian nation. Besides being vainglorious and self-serving, it flies in the face of everything Christ said and taught. Where did Christ say he wanted to establish an actual nation?  A people, yes, a nation with leaders and a government of any sort, no.  Considering your answers above, where would relevance be found?  Other than the comfort of followership and simplistic obedience, why would anyone follow Christ based upon the answers above?  Where have His people shown and spoken in manners that would make Him relevant, real, and a light through the darkness?  

Another interesting behavior to explore relates to thin skinned responses to questions and whining or decrying if there is any sort of perceived persecution.  Where did Christ or His disciples whine, complain, and cry about their mistreatment?  Where did they demand apologies from or assault those who spoke ill of them or whom they perceived as having somehow wronged them?  When someone asks a question or challenges an aspect of your faith, to get angry, to shrug it off, to get upset or cry about unfairness or some aspect of self defense, where does that person see Christ and His light reflected in your responses, words, and actions?  How can they, the potential thorn in your side, see Christ through you and see quite literally WWJD?  If you respond in the manner of Christ, then you model Him and perhaps, just perhaps, that person or entity takes a step close to Him.  Think of how Rome was converted.  It wasn’t through getting angry, it was through sacrifice and modeling faith in Christ in all words and actions.  It was where the Word, through the followers as models and first missionaries, was both spoken and shown through their actions and responses that reflected their savior, Christ, even in the face of disaster and death.  It was through acts of kindness and love, respecting life and love, where these actions spoke even louder than the Word.  

Sadly, all too many people rely on talking heads who unjustly and falsely claim God’s favor, strength, or support on so-called news shows, talk shows, pulpits, or podiums.  They model the WRONG responses, the anti-Christian ways of dealing with problems, stress, and issues. Show me a person on any of these shows that demonstrates Christ-like behavior and shows others through the kindness and genuine concern in their words that they model Christ in as close to 100% of their words and deeds as possible.  Name the person(s) and provide specific examples that encompass all they do and say, that show the vast majority of them is of Christ.  

If you look around the world, which countries at least try to behave in a Christ-like manner towards its people and outward to the people of other nations?  Ask yourself if your country shows this so that the model of Christ, His life and words, is visible and sensed for all to experience and find comfort. The more you yelp about being a Christian nation, the less the folks on the edge or completely on the other side will believe you.  Why do you have to say it so much?  Can’t you show it?  Why do you have to make so many rules and regulations for others and yourself?  Can’t you show it?  

Seriously…  Why can’t you show it?  You know why?  Because it’s difficult and requires depth and breadth of faith.  It requires not attaching to things of this world, particularly principalities, powers, dominions, and thrones.  It requires tempered actions and words, altruism, and walking the walk, not just talking the talk.  Quite literally, many are called and few will follow, truly follow with all their being.  Most are lukewarm, even though they sign the loudest and pray the hardest on Sundays [masking the insecurity of their faith or lack of it, even though they might not have the capacity or self-reflection to recognize it].  It’s not easy. It’s not the path of least resistance and the short road.  It is the arduous journey, it is the steep climb, and it is the walk in darkness with just a glimmer of light, but as we fulfill our calling, as we follow in His footsteps, and when we put our trust in Him and humbly throw ourselves at His mercy, then we can begin to walk the walk.  Many claim to walk, but few have taken but one faithful footstep.  

My personal belief is we will see MORE people turning from Christianity in the next four years.  With no Christ-like models visible anywhere, with pulpits attaching themselves to principalities, powers, dominions, and thrones, and with people who usurp God and claim God’s powers unto the nation trying to force their visions of God upon the masses, those various evils turn people away, fail the people at every turn, and deny the power of Christ. More reasons should be obvious if the above questions were answered honestly and truthfully, with a heart open to Christ and a soul deeply inspired and covered by Him. 

Is the situation hopeless?  No.  Never.  Will it be darker before we can see the light?  Probably if history and the Bible teach us anything.  To stand up for what is right, true, and good, for what Christ would ACTUALLY do and say, and to treat others BETTER than you want to be treated, then we can take a stand, show our true heart, and help others to find the light and see Christ.  

Allow a perspective from someone else:

“What does not create authentic unity is the centralized power tactics of the Caesars, the Inquisitors, or any other patriarchs or paternalists. A monarchical decree is quicker than careful listening, but is usually wrong.  A quick majority vote may reach a decision more rapidly but without resolving the problem or convincing the overpowered minority, so that the conflict remains.” - John Howard Yoder, Body Politics, p. 70

“If reconciliation between peoples and cultures is not happening, the Gospel’s truth is not being confirmed in that place.”  - John Howard Yoder, Body Politics, p. 38

Food for the spiritual journey, for the soul to come to fruition…  

[bookmaven]

SKULL-FACE AND OTHERS by Robert E. Howard (Sauk City: Arkham House,1946) Cover by Hannes Bok.

Fantasy/horror collection. Limited to 3004 copies.

Skull-Face is a fantasy novella originally serialized in Weird Tales (October through December, 1929). Clearly influenced by Sax Rohmer's opus Fu Manchu it substitutes a resuscitated Atlantean necromancer for the Asian villain. From the center of a web of crime and deceit he means to end Western world domination in order to re-instate surviving Atlanteans (lying dormant in submerged sarcophagi) as the new ruling elite.

Wolfshead (Weird Tales, April 1926) Cover by F.M. Stevenson • The Fire of Asshurbanipal (Weird Tales, December 1936) Cover by J. Allen St. John • Shadows in Zamboula (Weird Tales, November 1935) Cover by Margaret Brundage.

Contents:

vii · Foreword · August Derleth

ix · Which Will Scarcely Be Understood (Weird Tales, October 1937)

xiii · Robert E. Howard: A Memoriam by H.P. Lovecraft (Fantasy Magazine, September 1936), as “In Memoriam: Robert E. Howard”; revised from “Robert Ervin Howard: 1906-1936” (The Phantagraph, August 1936)

xvii · A Memory of R.E. Howard by E. Hoffmann Price [A slightly different version appeared in The Ghost, May 1945 as “The Book of the Dead, Chapter 2, Robert Ervin Howard”.]

Wolfshead (Weird Tales, April 1926) [de Montour]

The Black Stone (Weird Tales, November 1931) [Cthulhu]

“The Horror from the Mound” (Weird Tales, May 1932)

The Cairn on the Headland (Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, January 1933)

Black Canaan (Weird Tales, June 1936)

The Fire of Asshurbanipal (Weird Tales, December 1936) [Cthulhu]

“A Man-Eating Jeopard” (Cowboy Stories, June 1936) [Buckner Grimes]

The Hyborian Age (LANY Cooperative Publications, 1938) [The first half was published in The Phantagraph, (February, August, & October/November 1936)]

Skull-Face (Weird Tales, October 1929) [Kathulos]

Worms of the Earth (Weird Tales, November 1932) [Bran Mak Morn]

The Valley of the Worm (Weird Tales, February 1934) [James Allison]

“Skulls in the Stars” (Weird Tales, January 1929) [Solomon Kane]

“Rattle of Bones” (Weird Tales, June 1929) [Solomon Kane]

The Hills of the Dead (Weird Tales, August 1930) [Solomon Kane]

Wings in the Night (Weird Tales, July 1932) [Solomon Kane]

The Shadow Kingdom (Weird Tales, August 1929) [Kull]

“The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” (Weird Tales, September 1929) [Kull]

Kings of the Night (Weird Tales, November 1930) [Bran Mak Morn; Kull]

The Phoenix on the Sword (Weird Tales, December 1932) [Conan]

The Scarlet Citadel (Weird Tales, January 1933) [Conan]

The Tower of the Elephant (Weird Tales, March 1933) [Conan]

Rogues in the House (Weird Tales, January 1934) [Conan]

Shadows in Zamboula (Weird Tales, November 1935) [Conan]

Lines Written in the Realization That I Must Die (Weird Tales, August 1938)

Famous Fantastic Mysteries (December, 1952) Cover by Lawrence. [reprint magazine]

Skull-Face by Robert E. Howard [Weird Tales, October 1929]

Killdozer! by Theodore Sturgeon [Astounding Science Fiction, November 1944]

“The Homecoming” by Ray Bradbury [Mademoiselle, October 1946]

“The Coat” by A.E.D. Smith [from POWERS OF DARKNESS edited by Philip Allan, 1934]

(London: Panther, 1976) Cover by Chris Achilleos. • (New York: Berkley, 1978) • (Japan)

[proverbialschoolmarm]

[tfblovesmusic]

St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 (Johann Sebastian Bach; Disc 3 on Spotify link)

Monteverdi Choir & London Oratory Junior Choir (Chorus Master: Patrick Russill) (Mvts. 1, 35) / English Baroque Soloists

John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Vocal Soloists:

Tenor [Evangelist]: Anthony Rolfe Johnson

Baritone [Jesus]: Andreas Schmidt

Soprano [Nos. 18, 19, 33, 77; Pilate's Wife]: Barbara Bonney

Soprano [Nos. 12, 57, 58]: Ann Monoyios

Contralto [Nos. 10, 11, 36, 60, 61, 77]: Anne Sofie von Otter

Countertenor [Nos. 33, 47, 69, 70; 1st Witness]: Michael Chance

Tenor [Arias, No. 77; 2nd Witness]: Howard Crook

Baritone [Nos. 28, 29, 65, 66, 77; Peter; Pilate; High Priest; 1st Priest]: Olaf Bär

Bass [Nos. 51, 74, 75; Judas; 2nd Priest, Pontifex]: Cornelius Hauptmann

Soprano [1st Maid]: Ruth Holton

Soprano [2nd Maid]: Gillian Ross

Fun Facts

According to Annette Isserlis, she was dividing time playing viola with the EBS in this recording and the Taverner Players in theirs for Handel’s Messiah. Chance shared with her in one 2023 episode of her podcast, Tea With Netty, a memory in which American citizen Monoyios pleaded with the USAF colonel to suspend military aerial training for an hour so she could record the aria, “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben.”

Chance recorded several takes of “Erbarme Dich” (and possibly “So ist mein Jesus nun gefangen,” his duetto with Bonney; “Ach Golgatha, unselges Golgatha!;” and “Sehet, Jesus hat die Hand”) in between rounds of golf. Confessing to Isserlis, he deemed the highlight aria, though his recording of it was one of the very best renditions sung by a countertenor - if not, any gender alto singer - EVER, as very annoying to record multiple takes.

FORE.

[graphicpolicy]

JLA: Tower of Babel is an important story that has a lot that just doesn't stand the test of time

JLA: Tower of Babel is an important story that has a lot that just doesn't stand the test of time #comics #graphicnovel

Fanhome has launched The Legends of Batman, an expansive series of hardcover graphic novels featuring the greatest adventures of DC’s legendary Caped Crusader. This incredible series of stories brings Batman’s life story together in an epic full-color collection. The Legends of Batman Collection includes the best and most essential Batman adventures by legendary creative teams. The collection…

[sunburnacoustic]

Dom: *tired, faraway gaze* with each day this man ages me a thousa-

Matt: TITS OUT! TITS OUT! TITS OUT! TITS OUT! :D

These two [Dom and Chris] are like super fit now. You know, they always have been fit but they're like fit.

[hearthstonehallhq]

Quem estiver à procura do Lord Archibald vai encontra-la aqui : @ghstlygrm

⋅ ⋅ -ˋˏ➸ Welcome to our new arrival! Os jornais estão alvoroçados com a chegada de Lord Archibald Howard St. John, o Conde de Effingham. { @byron-aysun o homem que pretende desvendar suas habilidades está aqui! } { @milles-joseph seu amargo rival está aqui! }

[violettathepiratequeen]

The Writers of BtVS

So because I'm a nerd, and because I was curious, I compiled a list of the credited Buffy writers and their episodes, mostly to check for their own consistency, haha. And because I thought it was interesting enough to share:

WRITERS:

Joss Whedon

Welcome to the Hellmouth

The Harvest

Nightmares (with David Greenwalt)

Out of Mind, Out of Sight (with Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden)

Prophecy Girl

When She Was Bad

School Hard (with David Greenwalt)

Lie to Me

Ted (with David Greenwalt)

Innocence

Becoming, Part 1

Becoming, Part 2

Anne

Amends

Doppelgangland

Graduation Day, Part 1

Graduation Day, Part 2

The Freshman

Hush

Who Are You?

Restless

Family

The Body

The Gift

Once More With Feeling

Lessons

Chosen

Dana Reston

Witch

David Greenwalt

Teacher’s Pet

Angel

Nightmares (with Joss Whedon)

School Hard (with Joss Whedon)

Reptile Boy

Ted (with Joss Whedon)

Faith, Hope, and Trick

Homecoming

Rob Des Hotel & Dean Batali

Never Kill a Boy on the First Date 

The Puppet Show 

The Dark Age 

Phases 

Killed By Death 

Matt Kiene

The Pack

Inca Mummy Girl (with Joe Reinkemeyer)

Ashley Gable and Thomas A. Swyden

I, Robot… You, Jane

Out of Mind, Out of Sight (with Joss Whedon)

Ty King

Some Assembly Required

Passion

Joe Reinkemeyer

Inca Mummy Girl (with Matt Kiene)

Carl Ellsworth

Halloween

Howard Gordon

What’s My Line? Part 1 (with Marti Noxon)

Marti Noxon

What’s My Line? Part 1 (with Howard Gordon)

What’s My Line? Part 2

Bad Eggs

Surprise

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

I Only Have Eyes For You

Dead Man’s Party

Beauty and the Beasts

The Wish

Consequences

The Prom

Living Conditions

Wild at Heart

Doomed (with David Fury and Jane Espenson)

Goodbye Iowa

New Moon Rising

Buffy vs. Dracula

Into the Woods

Forever

Bargaining, Part 1

Wrecked

Villains

Bring on the Night (with Douglas Petrie)

Elin Hampton

Go Fish (with David Fury)

David Fury

Go Fish (with Elin Hampton)

Helpless

Choices

Fear Itself

Doomed (with Marti Noxon and Jane Espenson)

The I in Team

Primeval

Real Me

Shadow

Crush

Bargaining, Part 2

Life Serial (with Jane Espenson)

Gone

Grave

Sleeper (with Jane Espenson)

Showtime

Lies My Parents Told Me (with Drew Goddard)

Thania St. John

Gingerbread (with Jane Espenson)

Jane Espenson

Band Candy

Gingerbread (with Thania St. John)

Earshot

The Harsh Light of Day

Pangs

Doomed (with David Fury and Marti Noxon)

A New Man

Superstar

The Replacement

Triangle

Checkpoint (with Douglas Petrie)

I Was Made to Love You

Intervention

After Life

Flooded (with Douglas Petrie)

Life Serial (with David Fury)

Doublemeat Palace

Same Time, Same Place

Conversations with Dead People (with Drew Goddard)

Sleeper (with David Fury)

First Date

Storyteller

End of Days (with Douglas Petrie)

Douglas Petrie

Revelations

Bad Girls

Enemies

The Initiative

This Year’s Girl

The Yoko Factor

No Place Like Home

Fool For Love

Checkpoint (with Jane Espenson)

The Weight of the World

Flooded (with Jane Espenson)

As You Were

Two to Go

Beneath You

Bring on the Night (with Marti Noxon)

Get it Done

End of Days (with Jane Espenson)

Dan Vebber

Lovers Walk

The Zeppo

Tracey Forbes

Beer Bad

Something Blue

Where the Wild Things Are

Rebecca Rand Kirshner

Out of My Mind

Listening to Fear

Tough Love

Tabula Rasa

Hell’s Bells

Help

Potential

Touched

Steven S. DeKnight

Blood Ties

Spiral

All the Way

Dead Things

Seeing Red

Drew Z. Greenberg

Smashed

Older and Far Away

Entropy

Him

The Killer in Me

Empty Places

Diego Gutierrez

Normal Again

Drew Goddard

Selfless

Conversations with Dead People (with Jane Espenson) 

Never Leave Me

Lies My Parents Told Me (with David Fury)

Dirty Girls

So the conclusion I've come to is... in my own fanfic writing projects, I sometimes have works that I know are very good and are received well. And there are some that I know just stink, and the lower interaction reflects it. It's pretty comforting to know that for professional writers, the same thing is true.

Jane Espenson, for instance, beloved by Spuffies everywhere for being our man on the inside, ALSO co-wrote "Gingerbread," my least favorite ep ever.

Douglas Petrie is, in my opinion, absolutely an undercover Spuffy, or at least understood the assignment well enough to fake it. And I love him for being the first to write Wesley, for breaking Bangel up one of the times in S3, for writing "Fool for Love," for strengthening Spike's character in every ep that included him.

And David Fury... look, I know he gets a lot of flack, but I think he doesn't actually hate Spike as much as it seems. Looking at his list of episodes and the messages I know to be in them, I think he's just VERY pro-soul, and can't wrap his head around a vampire being good without one. But once Spike does get his soul... well, we need look no further than "Showtime."

But really, let's all bow down to Rebecca Rand Kirshner. For "Out of My Mind." For "Tabula Rasa." For "Help." For "Touched." For some of the sweetest Spuffy moments in all her other eps.

[lastweeksshirttonight]

God I love when you tell me something is "relevant to my interests" because you. never. miss. This is an absolute delight and I'm so glad John took the piss out of Russell's comment.

My journey through John Oliver's IMDB page that I've been doing in the last few days (summary: his old Cambridge doc got taken off YouTube, I got paranoid about how I'm glad I'd saved that but this is a reminder that nothing stays on the internet forever so you need to save the stuff you want to keep, this escalated too quickly into me buying a new external hard drive just to see how much of his IMDB page I can download and put in one place) has brought me through a documentary about Russell Howard from 2021. I previously knew that documentary existed, but I hadn't watched it because even before Russell doubled down on the Jordan Peterson thing enough for me to be done watching his stuff (I ignored the mild comments for months before he actually invited Peterson onto his show and made ignoring it impossible), I didn't need to see a documentary about how the pandemic made life difficult for an extremely rich and successful touring comedian.

However, I learned today that John Oliver had a credit in the documentary, so obviously I immediately downloaded it. To be honest I haven't watched the whole thing, I just skipped through it in search of the John Oliver bits. Because I have given up on Russell Howard, but his former connection to the Chocolate Milk Gang, and my hobby of cataloguing all Chocolate Milk Gang history, is the only thing that will make me temporarily suspend my closely held principles such as a hard line against all Jordan Peterson apologists. I did the same thing with his recent podcast, rolling my eyes when I first saw it announced because surely he doesn't need another platform and Britcom doesn't need another bland podcast, until I saw that there would be a John Oliver episode and obviously I listened to that one.

Anyway, the point is that there was some fun Chocolate Milk Gang history in the documentary, I've cut out the relevant clip:

The Chocolate Milk Gang goes by many names. Andrew Maxwell apparently called them "the guys with the bags". Stewart Lee has called them "The hanging around gang". In a discussion with Richard Herring they were labeled "the nerds of the circuit". But here we have a new one: the golden generation. A name coined by Russell Howard and then immediately and entirely justifiably ripped apart by John Oliver, what good stuff. I greatly enjoyed that. Someone should make a Chocolate Milk Gang documentary. I could probably cut together a Chocolate Milk Gang documentary from all the media files I've hoarded. See how many names they've been given over the years.

Based on the ten or so minutes I watched, I think I might genuinely be capable of putting together better videos than the person who made this Russell Howard documentary, the editing on it looks surprisingly amateur-ish for a film about such a huge mainstream star. However, it did provide me with very slightly (only very slightly, but still) higher quality versions of a couple of CMG-related images I had seen before, but had only seen in terrible quality, so it's nice to have those a little clearer:

And I hadn't seen this one before, I don't think Andy Zaltzman changed in appearance at all between 2003 and about 2017.

Oh and Steve Hall shows up at the end, which is fun. I like that guy. I like Steve Hall probably too much, given the fact that the main thing I've heard him do is be quite gross on several episodes Daniel Kitson's radio show in 2007-2008. But it was really funny. Those episodes made me laugh almost constantly and I recommend them to absolutely no one, no one should ever hear that. Though it's not the only thing I've heard him do. I have to be the only person in the world who watched the We Are Klang sitcom in 2023 just for one actor, but that actor was not Greg Davies. Oh and Steve Hall was in that Late 'n' Live recording from 2007, but that's not a lot better for making him respectable. He writes on The Russell Howard Hour and on some level I know he was probably involved in bringing in Jordan Peterson and probably if I asked Steve Hall to tell me all his political opinions I wouldn't be able to enjoy his old sitcom anymore, but luckily he doesn't have a big enough platform to tell us all his opinions so I'll just assume it's fine.

@lastweeksshirttonight, tagging you in case you don't happen to see this post because you'll really enjoy that video clip, it is relevant to your interests.