#the imp 1988

[mater-argento]

[2ndaryprotocol]

The campy horror comedy ‘Sorority Babes In The Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama’ (aka ‘The Imp’) opened in theaters this week 35 years ago. 🎳🧞‍♂️☠️

“𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚏𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚘𝚗.”

[haveyouseenthishorrormovie]

SUMMARY: Sorority boss Babs orders pledges to steal a bowling trophy, but they drop it and free an imp.

"Sex and Nudity: Robin Stille has some amazing cleavage." thank you, IMDB parents' guide.

[empessoa]

Basta ser breve e transitória a vida Para ser sonho. A mim, como a quem sonha, E obscuramente pesa a certa mágoa De ter que despertar — a mim a morte Mais como o horror de me tirar o sonho E dar-me a realidade me apavora, Que como morte. Quantas vezes, (...), Em sonhos vários conscientemente Imersos, nos não pesa ter que ver A realidade e o dia! Sim, este mundo com seu céu e terra, Com seus mares e rios e montanhas, Com seus arbustos, aves, bichos, homens Com o que o homem, com translata arte De qualquer outra, divina, faz — Casas, cidades, cousas, modos — Este mundo que sonho reconheço, Por sonho amo, e por ser sonho o não Quisera deixar nunca, e por ser certo Que terei que deixá-lo e ver verdade, Me toma a gorja com horror de negro O pensamento da hora inevitável, E a verdade da morte me confrange. Pudesse eu, sim pudesse, eternamente Alheio ao verdadeiro ser do mundo, Viver sempre este sonho que é a vida! Expulso embora da divina essência, Ficção fingindo, vã mentira eterna, Alma-sonho, que eu nunca despertasse! Suave me é o sonho, e a vida porque é Temo a verdade e a verdadeira vida. Quantas vezes, pesada a vida, busco No seio maternal da noite e do erro, O alívio de sonhar, dormindo; e o sonho Uma perfeita vida me parece... Perfeita porque falsa, e porventura Porque depressa passa. E assim é a vida.

3-3-1928

Fausto - Tragédia Subjectiva . Fernando Pessoa. (Texto estabelecido por Teresa Sobral Cunha. Prefácio de Eduardo Lourenço.) Lisboa: Presença, 1988.  1ª versão: “Primeiro Fausto” in Poemas Dramáticos . Fernando Pessoa. (Nota explicativa e notas de Eduardo Freitas da Costa.) Lisboa: Ática, 1952 (imp.1966, p.92).

[almostarts]

Benjamin Vautier (Also known as Ben) 18 July 1935 – 5 June 2024

"La jungle de l'art," 1988-89,

Game box with poster. Imp. Eric Linnard-Atelier 2A,

27,4 x 34,7 cm (box)

[agentplutonium]

Year End Review - Fic Edition

I saw @mr-laveau do something similar but with their art, so imma do it with my fics. Really this is just an excuse to show off my favourite fics from 2023, and give a bit of commentary on them. So let's do this. If you want to do something similar go ahead!! I think it's super fun.

Stats

How many words did you write in 2023? 50, 496

How many works did you post in 2023? 6, which is lower than I thought it would be

What fandoms did you post for? Redacted Audio, mostly, but I do have one singular NeXus fic

Pluto's Top Three

See, normally I despise picking the top three, but this year it is actually pretty easy. I think it's cause there are fewer to choose from, but also there are fics that really stood out to me this year.

1. Who Are You, Really? [NeXus, Cher & Sherlock character study, complete, T, 2547 words]

Out of all of my fics this year this is probably my favourite. It is the first fic of NeXus that I wrote, and it means a whole lot to me. I'm not sure why I like it so much but it probably has something to do with the fact that my first ever NeXus fic came out half decent. I usually have awful writing for the first fic in a new fandom. It also probably has something to do with developing my favourite found family out of that series so far ngl. For this fic I really wanted to focus on developing these two listeners, obviously, but also lay down what I think their relationships are like with the other characters surrounding them.

2. Like Real People Do [Redacted Audio, Sam/Darlin', Imperium AU, T, ongoing, 35018 words]

This is on this list because it is my baby. I have been working on it for so long. I have had an obsession with the au and now I am just determined to finish it. I really wanted to play with the idea of Darlin still being alive in the Imp! and ran with it honestly.

3. Let Me (I Will) [Redacted Audio, Milo/Sweetheart, M, complete, 1988 words]

While this isn't my best-written fic, it certainly is my most sentimental. I wrote this fic at a time when I was injecting my own demisexual identity into Sweetheart. If I could, I would rewrite this fic, but I will definitely be doing similar in the future. Mainly because I want to read fics that speak to me, and share them for those who may also relate.

[thevideodungeon]

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (1988)

Something of a cult classic, and one that does give you pretty much what you expect when you hear "Starring Linnea Quigley." Unfortunately,. that title does conjure up the image of something a bit more exciting than what you actually get. The story concerns an imp released from a bowling trophy and offers to grant wishes for the expendable protagonists. However, that premise just kinda ends shortly after it starts, and the movie becomes about two possessed sorority babes killing the rest. So overall it's an okay movie, but one that doesn't live up to the "cult status" hype.

5/10

[brokehorrorfan]

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2 will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 11 via Full Moon Features. The 2022 horror-comedy is a sequel to the 1988 cult classic.

Scream queen Brinke Stevens - who starred in the original - makes her feature directorial debut from a script by Kent Roudebush (Zombies vs. Strippers, Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong). Charles Band produces.

Kelli Maroney, Stevens, Michelle Bauer, Audrey Neal, Jessie Gill, Glory Rodriguez, Katie O'Neill, Luka Parente, Hannah Tullett, and Derek Jeremiah Reid star.

The only special features are Full Moon trailers. Check out the trailer and synopsis below.

The Pi-Ep sorority house has seen better days, but the girls are intent on gaining some new recruits. With housemother Auntie Snake as their guide, the naughty hi-jinks and hilarity begin. Meanwhile, though, the Bowl-O-Rama bowling alley has had a break-in, and a breakout. With the escape of the magical and murderous Imp, it's a fight for survival, with only one mysterious girl holding the answers to the riddle of the Imp's wish.

Pre-order Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2.

[imperiuswrecked]

Hey Imp! I'm looking to purchase an omnibus or volume for any series Namor has and I was wondering what'd be the best for someone who's just getting into the character? I've read Atlantis Attacks, King in Black: Namor, Invaders (2019), and All New Invaders, but I want to read more surrounding him and his cast of characters. Since you're the resident expert, what do you recommend?

Hello! I highly recommend new Namor fans read Saga of the Sub-Mariner (1988), a 12 limited series that goes over Namor's entire history from the Golden Age until the 90s series. If you don't want to hunt down the single comics then you can find it in an Omnibus which also collects Jim Hammond's 4 issue limited series.

Sub-Mariner & The Original Human Torch

However the best era of Namor was in the Silver Age in terms of his supporting cast and stories that feature him and Atlantis. There's quite a few collections out there:

Marvel Masterworks: Sub-Mariner volumes collect: Marvel Comics #1 Daredevil (1964) #7 + 77 Tales to Astonish #70-101 Tales of Suspense #80 Iron Man & Sub-Mariner (1968) #1 The Sub-Mariner (1968) #1-72 Marvel Spotlight (1971) #27

This is the longest running and most definitive Silver Age run for Namor and Atlantis. It introduces a lot of characters, and Namor villains, and brings back old characters from the Golden Age as well.

Epic Collection: Sub-Mariner volumes collect: Fantastic Four (1961) #4, 6, 9, 14, 27, 33, Annual 1 Strange Tales (1951) #107 Avengers (1963) #3-4 X-Men (1963) #6 Daredevil (1964) #7 Tales to Astonish #70-76 The Sub-Mariner (1968) #4-27

There's some overlap/same issues here as the Masterworks but also I consider the Epic collection as Namor's early guest starring comics all in one place.

This is a new Omnibus, but it collects stuff that's been in the other two. Mighty Marvel Masterworks: Namor the Sub-Mariner collects:

Tales to Astonish #70-80 Daredevil (1964) #7

Prince, Namor the Sub-Mariner (1984) has not been collected to my knowledge but it's a 4 issue limited series

Personally I would rec Sub-Mariner: Revolution which collects: Sub-Mariner (2007) #1-6

The full 90s series has not been collected into an Omnibus yet but so far Marvel has put out a few volumes.

Namor: Visionaries - John Bryne collects Namor, the Sub-Mariner (1990) #1-18

Namor the Sub-Mariner by John Bryne & Jae Lee collects: Namor, the Sub-Mariner (1990) #1-40, Annual 1 + 2, Incredible Hulk Annual #18, Silver Surfer Annual 5, Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme Annual 2

All that's left is the Namor: The First Mutant collections which I think is split into 2 volumes and collects Namor: The First Mutant (2010) - 11 issues + Annual, but it could be more like an x-men comic in there too or something

Namor in other omnibuses would be a lot because he's been on nearly every major Marvel team, and I know this is alot but I wanted to give you a complete look at the omnibuses that only focus on Namor solos and not the other teams omnibuses. As I said before I personally enjoy the comics of Sub-Mariner (2007), Tales to Astonish and The Sub-Mariner (1968), First Mutant is good too.

[watching-pictures-move]

Movie Review | Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama (DeCoteau, 1988)

This review contains spoilers.

Not a lot to this, but if you accept that there’s a cap on how good this will be, it’s pretty enjoyable on its own modest terms. I’m no David DeCoteau expert, but this has similarities with Nightmare Sisters in that it stars Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer and Brinke Stevens, has a plot that relates to fratboy types and sororities and related horndog behaviour, and is mostly set in one location. When I say there isn’t a lot to this, it’s that there isn’t a great deal of incident in its eighty minute runtime, no particularly outlandish possibilities entertained as a result of its premise (a sorority prank results in the protagonists getting trapped in a a bowling alley unleashing an evil imp, who possesses some of them and sics them on the other), so really how much you enjoy this depends on how much hanging out with these actors. And I like Quigley, Bauer and Stevens quite a bit, so I had a good enough time. A bunch of stray observations:

I complained in my review of the 2021 Mortal Kombat that the digital cinematography in that movie looked dark, murky and flat. The cinematography in this movie is certainly dark, but what a world of difference it makes when these things are shot on film and some thought goes into the lighting. Because the characters are running around a bowling alley at night, it’s understandably pretty dark, but the lighting in this movie all looks like a portal was blown open from another dimension, and the impossibly bright beams that emanate from it are enough to blind you.

The imp (who is voiced with a… racially questionable cadence) grants each of the characters a wish. Naturally one of them wishes to make it with Bauer, and pretty much all the nudity in the movie comes from this scene. (DeCoteau lovingly photographs the guy shirtless in addition to Bauer in the buff.) Most of the other wishes have a monkey’s paw element (gold that turns out not to be gold, a prom dress in tatters), and the twist here is that Bauer is a bit too excited? The way the movie edits this scene it seems like it might have gone on for a long time, but the guy nervously protests that she’s going too fast for him. There’s probably something interesting here about fratboy types getting cold feet when their fantasies might actually true combined with the bluntness with which the female nudity is presented.

Early in the movie there’s a sorority hazing sequence where Bauer and Stevens are paddled on their behinds in loving closeup. I’ve never been in a sorority, because I’m a dude, but have also never been in a fraternity, but I’ve always gotten an uncomfortably sexual vibe from depictions of hazing rituals. And this movie seemingly shares my viewpoint, as the head of the sorority gets transformed into a dominatrix after she’s possessed by the imp. Again, there’s probably some overarching commentary around sexual mores that can be read into the movie that’s maybe a bit more complex than the moralizing one associates with slasher movies of the era.

The male lead of the movie is introduced watching horror movies, and announces that he’d rather do that than go spy on the sorority house, and I’ve never related more strongly to a movie character in my life. Interestingly, while his friends are more concerned with peeping on girls and getting laid, he’s the only one who actually tries to form an actual relationship of equals with a woman in the movie. Of course, that woman is a burglar from the wrong side of the tracks played by Linnea Quigley, who, as she often does, totally steals the movie. But the fact that both of these characters have motivations and ways of thinking removed from the fratboy / sorority mindset ensures that they survive the ordeal.

In the parlance of a wise man, I’ve done the research, I’ve looked at the facts, I’ve analyzed the hard data and my conclusion is that there are few things more adorable than the specific way Quigley darts her eyes and curls the ends of her lips when she breaks into a covert smile.

[esonetwork]

The Earth Station DCU Episode 313 – Legends of Tomorrow Series Finale

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/the-earth-station-dcu-episode-313-legends-of-tomorrow-series-finale/

The Earth Station DCU Episode 313 – Legends of Tomorrow Series Finale

This Week on Earth Station DCU! Just like the Legends, Drew Leiter and Cletus Jacobs discuss the Legends of Tomorrow Series Finale. Superman learns more about his sidekick Boy Thunder when David loses it against some pirates in Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #9. Even though she has been grounded for another week because of her grades, Courtney sneaks out of the house to join Red Arrow in the search for Wing in Stargirl: The Lost Children #1. Batman confronts Black Adam about his recent actions of killing the pilot in Black Adam #6. Batman and Robin give Victor a chance to redeem himself in Batman – One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze #1. Selena saves Dario and then has encounter with Batman in Catwoman #49. Nightwing gets his own Imp in Nightwing #98. The new mayor deputizes the Rogues in The Flash #788. Young Justice must fight against their own 5th dimensional imp in Dark Crisis: Young Justice #6. Trapped on a strange world, Bruce Wayne learns the truth about it in Dark Crisis: Worlds Without A Justice League – Batman #1. All this plus, DC News, DC TV, Shout Outs, and much, much more!

————————

Table of Contents

0:00:00 Show Open

0:01:24 DC News

0:18:26 Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #9

0:22:39 Stargirl: The Lost Children #1

0:27:56 Black Adam #6

0:30:46 Batman – One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze #1

0:35:54 Catwoman #49

0:41:15 Nightwing #98

0:43:50 The Flash #788

0:47:34 Dark Crisis: Young Justice #6

0:49:04 Dark Crisis: Worlds Without A Justice League – Batman #1

0:55:28 Titans S4 Ep3 – Jinx

1:01:47 Stargirl S3 Ep12 – Frenemies – Chapter Twelve: The Last Will and Testament of Sylvester Pemberton

1:07:17 DC’s Legends of Tomorrow S7 Ep13 – Knocked Down, Knocked Up

1:18:42 Show Close

Links

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #9

Stargirl: The Lost Children #1

Black Adam #6

Batman – One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze #1

Catwoman #49

Nightwing #98

The Flash #788

Dark Crisis: Young Justice #6

Dark Crisis: Worlds Without A Justice League – Batman #1

Tales of the Teen Titans (1984-1988) #56 (Cletus’s Read More Comics Pick)

But First, Let’s Talk Nerdy Episode #78

Earth Station One Tales of the Station

Earth Station One Tales of the Station Vol. 2

The Chameleon Chronicles: Colors of Fate

The Chameleon Chronicles: Sisters of the Thorn

If you would like to leave feedback, comment on the show, or would like us to give you a shout out, please call the ESDCU feedback line at (317) 564-9133 (remember long distance charges may apply) or feel free to email us @ earthstationdcu@gmail.com

[elmartillosinmetre]

"Este Ritual marcará mi carrera"

[La violista navarra Isabel Villanueva / JUAN GARCÍA ROSELL]

El próximo domingo 19 la violista navarra Isabel Villanueva ofrece en las matinales del Femás (San Luis. 12:00) el preestreno de su último álbum, en el que toca sola un programa que va de Santa Hildegarda a György Kurtág

Han pasado seis años desde el anterior trabajo discográfico de Isabel Villanueva (Pamplona, 1988), la más internacional de las violistas españolas, que ofrecerá en Sevilla por primera vez, y antes de la presentación oficial, el contenido íntegro de su último álbum.

–¿Qué es Ritual?

–Es un trabajo muy especial para mí. Surge de la necesidad de plasmar un momento personal en el que me encuentro y me encontraba cuando hice la grabación en noviembre de 2022, después de los últimos años, por las circunstancias de la pandemia, que nos han afectado a todos, pero también por las personales y artísticas que me afectan a mí. Desde mi última grabación, Bohèmes, de 2017, he evolucionado como persona y como artista y eso me ha creado la necesidad de dejar este programa en disco.

–¿Qué hay de ritual en el programa?

–Ha sido todo un ritual, desde el proceso de preparación, incluida la física, el deporte, la mente, la introspección, el cuestionamiento en todos los sentidos y luego la grabación en sí misma. Todo ha sido un ritual para mí. El orden del programa tiene un sentido, desde que nace con la Oda a la sabiduría de Hildegard von Bingen hasta que termina con la Passacaglia de Biber, con la Chacona de Bach y toda la Partita nº2 como punto culminante y entre medias con todas esas piezas de Signos, Juegos y Mensajes de Kurtág que me han acompañado mucho en los últimos diez años. Aunque los compositores están muy alejados entre sí comparten valores artísticos y humanos muy importantes, el silencio, el espacio, la arquitectura sonora, la delicadeza, los detalles y también su parte filosófica, una parte profunda a nivel místico que conecta todas las obras entre sí. Es la mejor forma que he encontrado para conectarme con el público desde una perspectiva muy íntima. Se trata de un disco muy personal, una forma de llegar al público a partir de un lado mío que quizá la gente no conocía, que es esta parte mística, que representa algo muy importante de mí como artista y como persona. A través de todos los proyectos que llevo haciendo últimamente, con fusiones de otros géneros (el jazz, el flamenco) y de otras disciplinas, como la danza, creo que este Ritual es un punto que marcará mi carrera.

–¿Lo hace por primera vez ahora en Sevilla?

–Sí, es el preestreno. Me hace mucha ilusión que sea en Sevilla, una ciudad que tiene un punto jondo, que está muy vinculado a mi forma de entender la música, porque esta música también tiene ese punto jondo. Y además que sea en el seno de un festival tan prestigioso como el Femás me hace muy feliz.

–¿Cómo se acerca a las partituras de Bach y Biber?

–A nivel armónico obviamente están bajadas una quinta. Pero además a nivel técnico la viola requiere una profundidad física de trabajo del sonido que no precisa el violín. Aunque sean de la misma familia y parezcan iguales son muy diferentes. La viola necesita una técnica diferente. La Partita nº2 la llevo tocando desde los 19 años. La Passacaglia de Biber la tenía como pieza adorada y deseada, pero sólo empecé con ella en la pandemia. Este fue un repertorio que me acompañó durante la pandemia, todos los meses del confinamiento que pasé sola en casa. El ritual de aquellos días fue yo con mi viola y mi viola conmigo. A la música antigua me acerco con mucho respeto. La obra de Hildegarda es una pieza fascinante, podía estar compuesta ahora y no hace diez siglos. Es atemporal. Se trata de una canción, tiene un texto. Yo cogí la versión original e hice una versión para viola. En el disco incluyo mi voz, aunque en directo no será posible. Las obras barrocas las toco con arco barroco, porque eso ayuda a entrar dentro de la profundidad de sonido, del gesto, que es tan importante en el barroco con las articulaciones.

–¿En el concierto también cambiará los arcos?

–Sí, iré intercalando. Haré el mismo orden del disco, que es el que tiene el sentido del ritual e iré cambiando de arco, con lo que el público verá esas diferencias, algo que me parece muy interesante.

[Isabel Villanueva en imagen promocional de Ritual. / ROSALÍA BRONSTEIN]

–¿Qué comparte Kurtág con todos estos músicos antiguos?

–Hace diez años tuve la ocasión de preparar en Budapest este ciclo, y eso me abrió un mundo de una precisión y de una exigencia de escucha enormes, que es lo que tiene su mundo. El espacio, el silencio, las comas, la respiración, todo eso está muy ligado al resto del programa. Las cinco piezas que he elegido y el orden que les he dado no es casual. Empiezo con una pieza dedicada a Imre Földes, un artista gráfico húngaro, cuando cumplió 60 años; está en estilo húngaro. Continúo con el Perpetuum mobile, movimiento… antes de volver a gravitar sobre lo húngaro con In Nomine – all’ongharese, un auténtico favorito de Kurtág, que además es lo más jondo… Y eso abre la puerta a Bach, con la gran chacona compuesta como homenaje fúnebre a su esposa Maria Barbara. Todo tiene un sentido de dedicatoria: al final la Passacaglia de Biber es conocida como El ángel de la guarda, siempre hay alguien ahí para cuidar de ti. Yo lo dedico al ser humano pero no entendido como masa, sino individualmente, de forma íntima, me gustaría que esto se escuchara como si yo lo estuviera tocando para cada persona en solitario.

–El disco se presenta la semana posterior al concierto de Sevilla...

–El día 22 se presenta con una charla, pero oficialmente el disco se lanza físicamente y en las plataformas el 23, y ahí lo tocaré también. Será una charla en San Juan de los Caballeros de Segovia, donde se grabó, un lugar que me fascina, que tiene una energía muy especial y allí contaré todo el proceso. Y luego al día siguiente lo tocaré en la Cueva del Convento de San Juan de la Cruz, dentro de la Semana de Música Sacra de Segovia.

–¿Y luego, por dónde seguirá su camino este Ritual?

–El 31 de marzo lo presentaré en Valencia en diálogo con Ramón Andrés, que ha escrito parte de las notas del libreto y que es uno de los humanistas más importantes que hay ahora en España y de los que más admiro. El 13 de mayo lo hago también en Barcelona, y luego tengo fechas para la temporada próxima tanto en España como en el extranjero, pero no puedo hablar de ellas porque aún no se han presentado.

–¿ Algún otro proyecto cercano?

–Ahora, el 15 de marzo tengo un recital en Suiza con François Dumont con Sonatas de Rebecca Clarke, Hindemith y Brahms, será al borde del lago Constanza, con una charla explicativa, promete mucho. Después, en el resto del mes de marzo todo esto que le he contado y en abril volveré a Hispanoamérica. Estaré en Venezuela, Costa Rica y Panamá. Debutaré con la Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar con el Concierto de Bartók, algo que me hace mucha ilusión.

[Diario de Sevilla. 12-03-2023]

[lemaistrechat]

The first time Hordak turned good

Before She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, there was... Masters of the Universe #11 by Marvel Comics, cover date January 1988.

“Whose Enemy Am I Anyway?”

Note how off-model Catra and Imp are!

Modulok has almost all the body parts from his action figure, where Filmation usually stuck to the head with white eyes and one lower body segment with three clawed legs.

A person’s character is formed by doing similar acts over and over again, so amnesiac He-Man starts out cooperative and kind while Hordak starts out as a jerk.

But with no memories of his history, it only takes one incident for Hordak to learn a lesson.

I love how the artist sets up an expectation of the villain having a “Kick the Dog” moment, but Hordak tolerates the hostile dog and it hurts itself on his metal shin!

<3

No good deed goes unpunished if you wear the Horde symbol on a planet whose rebellion has succeeded.

The pathos on this last page is just... off the charts, in my opinion.

“No! Wait! I want to stay with my friend!”

“No, for some of us it’s too late. I’m too old, too set in my ways.”

Interesting how deviating from Horde Prime’s will gets you mind controlled, and that Shadow Weaver has the power/authority to do it.

What do you think would happen if 80s Hordak did manage to defect?

[chiseler]

Larger Than Life

In 1927, Albert Bertanzetti and his three-year-old son, William, were taking a stroll when they stopped to join a small crowd watching a film being shot on the streets of Los Angeles. During a break in the shoot, Albert suggested his son go show the director, Jules White, his little trick. So William toddled over to White and tugged on his pant leg. When he had White’s attention, William flipped over, went into a headstand and began spinning in circles. White was so taken with the trick he gave the young Bertanzetti a small uncredited role in the two-reel short, Wedded Blisters. Afterward, William earned a regular role in the popular Mickey McGuire series of shorts, where he played Mickey Rooney’s younger brother Billy. Taking prevailing anti-Italian sentiments into consideration, in the credits he was cited as “Billy Barty.”

Barty had been born in Millsboro, Pennsylvania in 1924, but when it was determined he had hay fever, Albert decided to move the family West, to the dry, clean air of Hollywood. Depending on how you look at it, hay fever was the least of Barty’s problems. Or maybe not, given how things worked out.

Apart from hay fever, Barty had also been born with cartilage–hair hypoplasia, a form of dwarfism. Being extremely small for his age at three (as an adult he stood three-foot-nine), when it came to early film roles he was almost exclusively relegated to playing diaper clad infants. It was a director’s dream—having an infant on set who could not only take direction, but could walk, run, talk and do tricks as well. As a result, along with the Mickey McGuire shorts, he played infants in everything from the all-star live action adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (1933) to Golddiggers of 1933 (1933) to Bride of Frankenstein (1935). In fact Barty, tiny as he was, would play diaper-clad infants until he hit puberty.

Over a career that would span seven decades, along with infants, Barty would play his share of elves, leprechauns, imps, Hobbits, trolls, assorted other fairy tale and fantasy characters, clowns, court jesters, pygmies, sideshow performers and mad scientist assistants. Ironically, for having appeared in over two hundred films and television shows, Barty did not appear in the three touchstones of American Dwarf-centric cinema: Tod Browning’s Freaks (1932), Sam Newfield’s The Terror of Tiny Town (1938), or Mervin LeRoy’s The Wizard of Oz (1939). No, although he would appear in the behind-the-scenes comedy Under the Rainbow (1981), contrary to the general assumption, Billy Barty was never an original Munchkin. There are reasons for this.

In 1932 when Browning was working on Freaks, Barty was only eight, he was not a professional carnival freak, and he was too busy with the Mickey McGuire shorts. And after the shorts’ seven-year run ended in 1934—two years before casting began on Tiny Town or The Wizard of Oz—Albert Bertanzetti, recognizing talent in all of his children, pulled Billy out of the movies and sent the whole family on the vaudeville circuit.

Now, 1935 was hardly the most opportune time to try and break into vaudeville. As an entertainment form it had been on life support for a decade already, with theaters either closing down or becoming movie palaces with performances, almost as a sad afterthought, taking place after that evening’s double feature had ended. Those performers who could were trying to break into pictures, and those who couldn’t were vanishing without a trace. Now here was Barty, who’d been working regularly in films for nearly ten years, trying to break into vaudeville. Nevertheless, Billy and Sisters, as they were touted, marched on, with a musical act featuring Barty’s sister Evelyn on piano and accordion, his other sister Dede playing violin, and Barty himself on drums. They all sang and danced a little, and the adolescent Barty told jokes and did impressions. In his later years he remembered the time fondly, mostly because it gave him a chance at that early age to see much of North America.

In 1942 Barty enrolled in college in Los Angeles and majored in journalism, hoping to become a sportswriter. While there, he joined the football and basketball teams, where he was both a novelty and a ringer. He also played second base on a semi-professional baseball team for a spell, where by his own account he was walked forty-five times.

Instead of pursuing work as a sports columnist after graduation, he returned to show business. Later he was quoted as saying, “You don’t see any little people doing newscasts, you don’t see any doing sports writing, you don’t see any sports announcing, you don’t see any coaches, but there are little people who are capable of doing these things, who have proven themselves.” You get the sense there was a little personal bitterness there, hinting he may have been forced back to Hollywood because that was the only place he could find work.

By 1947, now an adult with a gravelly but high-pitched voice, Barty sported a boxer’s face on a disproportionately large head. In many ways he resembled a diminutive William Demarest, and in many roles would adopt Demarest’s gruff but lovable demeanor. Shedding the diaper at last, he nevertheless picked up where he left off, playing assorted pygmies and leprechauns and elves, usually for cheap laughs.

In the early Fifties he became a regular member of Spike Jones musical comedy ensemble, The City Slickers, and was a big hit on Jones TV shows, where he became especially known for his slapstick, spot-on Liberace impression, and his ability to roll off his piano bench into a head spin, a trick which continued to serve him well.

Growing up, Barty said, he had no idea he was different, that his parents never told him there were things he couldn’t do because he was too short. By the time he was thirty, however, he’d come to learn the rest of the world was not quite as accepting as his parents. In 1957, Barty put out a call for little people from around the country to join him for a get together in Reno. Only twenty people showed up to that first convention, but it became the foundation for Little People of America, a support and advocacy group pushing for equitable treatment and civil rights for dwarfs, midgets and other people of unusually small stature. His aim was to ensure little people across the country would be treated fairly, would be able to get jobs, and would be granted the same accessibility rights afforded the normally-sized. It always struck me as a little odd that, for all his tireless efforts lobbying to normalize perceptions and treatment of little people throughout American culture, Barty, without much apparent gumption, would continue to take roles some might call demeaning, or at the very least helped cement those stereotypes he was fighting so hard to break. Perhaps to him it was simply paying work, it was showbiz, and he knew full well what his role was within that world. But the apparent ironic contrast between his activism and his work would lead to a public tiff in the Seventies with fellow small actor Hervé Villechaize of Fantasy Island. Barty, who’d appeared on the show, felt Villechaize was undercutting all his work when he said bluntly that people like him and Barty “were midgets, not actors.”

After the second annual Little People of America convention, Barty began courting Shirley Bolingbroke, a little person who had attended the meeting. When he proposed, however, she declined, telling him she was a devout Mormon, and so would never consider marrying anyone outside the faith. In 1962 Barty relented and converted to the church of Latter-day Saints, and the two were married. Although Mormon insiders and publicists have made a big deal of Barty’s enthusiastic True Believer status within LDS, it would be many years before he agreed to get baptized and receive full member status, and then only to participate in his son’s baptism.

Around the time of the marriage, as Barty was making regular TV appearances on various comedy and variety shows (including a recurring role on Peter Gunn), he also began hosting a weekday afternoon local kid’s show in Los Angeles which was called either Billy Barty’s Big Top or Billy Barty’s Big Show, depending on who’s doing the remembering. That stint may well have brought him to the attention of the sinister Sid and Marty Krofft, who in the late Sixties conscripted Barty to become a regular on several Krofft shows including H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, and later Sigmund The Sea Monster, where he played the titular sea monster opposite Rip Taylor and aging child star Johnny Whittaker.

For all the low-brow antics and his uncredited roles in Elvis movies, it must be said Barty was always a compelling and charismatic screen presence, a, yes, larger than life character. In those few rare instances when he played roles that made no references at all to his height—like Abe Kusich, the shady drunken cockfighter in Day of the Locust or Ludwig, Rod Steiger’s sidekick in W.C. Fields and Me, he proved himself an electric onscreen presence who could dominate any scene.

(Just a quick aside, in 1980 Ralph Bakshi rotoscoped Barty to portray both Bilbo and Samwise Baggins in his animated version of Lord of the Rings. I wasn’t aware of that at the time, but thinking back on it now, the way both characters moved, it seems so obvious I was watching another Billy Barty performance.)

In 1975, around the same time he opened a Southern California roller rink he called “Billy Barty’s Roller Fantasy, Barty established The Billy Barty Foundation. As an adjunct to Little People of America, the Foundation aimed to provide practical assistance—money, adaptive equipment, etc.—to little people in need, particularly children. And after campaigning for George H.W. Bush during the 1988 presidential campaign, he sat on a panel of advisors working to hammer out the details of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which President Bush signed into law in 1990.

At the same time he was sitting on that panel, Barty was also producing, directing and starring in Short Ribs, a syndicated sketch comedy series featuring an all-dwarf cast including Patty Maloney, Jimmy Briscoe and Joe Gieb. The show, which was modeled after SCTV and SNL, only aired in the Los Angeles area and ran thirteen weeks. After the show went off the air, Barty was slapped with two lawsuits, one from the show’s co-producer William Winckler and one from the show’s co-writer Warren Taylor, both of whom claimed Barty owed them money. The suits ended up, inevitably, in small claims court. Barty lost both suits, and even though few people had ever heard of, let alone seen the show, news of Barty in small claims court was too much for reporters to resist, and the case received smirking national attention.

After the suits were settled, Barty continued to work, but a bit more sporadically. He had one-off roles on Frasier, Jack’s Place, and a few low-budget quickies, and seemed to be edging more into voice roles, providing characterizations for a Batman cartoon and The Rescuers Down Under, to name a couple. But he was still working until the end, when he ended up in the hospital with cardiopulmonary issues in late 2000. He died on December 23rd of that year at age 73.

In the late Eighties he told an interviewer, “I’ve never looked at acting as ‘Ahhh!’ and ‘Gee!’ I started in vaudeville when I was five and for me it was just walking on a stage and I’m gonna perform. Later on I was impressed by many things, like when I worked with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in Tough Guys. That was an ‘Ahhh!’ for me. When I look back, even today, I guess I can go ‘Ahhh!’ because I worked with Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell in Gold Diggers of 1933 when I was nine. Then they were just grown-ups on the stage. As I look back, I’m more awed now than I was when I was actually doing it.”

Those who knew and worked with Barty always recall what a joy it was, how kind and enthusiastic and funny he was, a real spark who could enliven even the most questionable production. I would never deny that. I’ve always loved and admired Barty, and have sat through countless godawful films and TV shows simply because he had a role, no matter how small.

That said, I do have to wonder if at the end, after all his decades of work fighting for the dignity of little people everywhere, he felt like a bit of a hypocrite for spending those same years and more cementing the stereotype in the American consciousness. I also wonder if he died still wishing he’d become a sportswriter for a Des Moines daily instead.

by Jim Knipfel

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBOWL BOWL-O-RAMA

A David De Couteau film without homoerotic implications is like a sundae without ice cream (though I recall an early DARK SHADOWS episode in which Kathryn Leigh Scott made a sundae and left out the ice cream, possibly for budgetary reasons). In the case of SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBOWL BOWL-O-RAMA (1988), De Couteau made the film before he discovered he could sell inept horror films to horny gay men as easily as he could sell them to horny straight teens. A sorority initiation to steal a bowling trophy unleashes an imp (a puppet that never appears with the actors but keeps popping up to deliver unfunny lines about the action). He turns some of the girls into demons who proceed to kill most of the other girls and a pair of horny nerds who tagged along hoping to get laid. Except for one guy running around in boxer shorts (it was supposed to be white briefs, but he chickened out) there’s not much eye candy, though the young women strip at every possible opportunity. Linnea Quigley, as a thief they catch trying to rob the bowling alley’s vending machines, comes closer than most of the cast to doing something that sort of resembles something that could almost possibly be acting. Some people consider the film so bad it’s good, but I found it so bad it’s almost terminally boring. Thank the goddess for knitting. It not only got me through the film, but enough of these and I'll have a sweater.

[jasontoddiefor]

Batfam Fanfic Rec Sunday!

I’ve decided to do something worthwhile with my 1400+ Batfam bookmarks, therefore I welcome you to my first Fanfic Rec Sunday. Every Sunday I guess I’ll recommend fanfictions for a specific theme, AU, trope, etc.

Feel free to request specific themes or AUs and I’ll do my best to search for fitting fanfiction!

(”Oh, I’ve always wanted to read something like a Brooklyn 99 crossover!” ”I’ve got your back, young reader.”)

This week’s theme is Time Travel & Batman Beyond!

And I’ve got 28 amazing fanfics for you below the read more!

Have fun and don’t forget to leave these lovely writers a comment!

Title: A Gift to Cherish Summary: The wonderful thing about being hurdled through time and space is that Jason doesn’t have to deal with the fallout of not listening to Bruce. The awful, terrible, no good very bad part of hurtling through time and space is that he has no idea where he is. It’s all up to wormhole he was thrown into to decide where he gets spit out to. In which Jason is thrown into a future he never came back to, and gets to heal, just a little bit. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20226775

Title: A Good Place Summary: Damian Wayne is kidnapped and sent back years through time. Together, he and Father – who's only been Batman for a mere six months –must figure out how to return him to his own time. Over the course of the next week, Damian discovers that Mexican gangsters do not mess around, that social workers find Bruce annoying, that Bruce might be a little messed up, and that crystal chandeliers create the fondest memories. Oh. And Alfred has hair. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13515501

Title: A hundred miles through the desert Summary: Finding himself nearly three decades into the past hadn't been part of Jason's plans for the day, but he could manage. Having no idea how he got there, no clear path home and a recently orphaned Bruce Wayne determined to drag Jason into his search for his parents' killer - that might be a little more complicated. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18197330

Title: And They’re Only Getting Better Summary: 90's!Tim Drake wakes up in his Red Robin body. Exhausted from a YJ mission, he chooses to focus on getting through a normal day so as not to disrupt things for his future self. But, y'know, his way. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10522401

Title: A Time to Reflect Summary: Bruce finds himself stuck in the past, and while waiting for the league to pick him up, struggles to get along with his past self. Plus being in a practically empty manor is a bigger adjustment than he'd like to admit. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20156707

Title: Back to the Past Summary: Bruce is Robin, his dad isn't Batman though, despite how similar the outfits are. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17237258

Title: Careful what you wish for Summary: Sometimes, Batman can’t help but miss the time when Dick was the one and only Robin. In a world with magical imps, he should have known better. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15009647

Title: Choose - Lose Summary: Tim looked to the empty space where the time traveler had stood, a forgettable man with a forgettable face in a forgettable shabby brown suit, and had made his unforgettable offer. You can save him. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18320876

Title: Cocoa in April Summary: There are strict rules when it comes to time-traveling. But when Dick is faced with an adorable young Bruce when he's accidentally sent back to 1988, he can't resist a conversation. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16888914

Title: death sucks (and then you live) Summary: Red Hood is starting to put some serious plans in motion when he's attacked by a not-so-welcome blast from the past. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15532380

Title: Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep Summary: I am not here I do not sleep. Terry wants to say he's okay with cemeteries. But taking your kinda boss, kinda mentor, kinda surrogate father-figure to his creepy family cemetery does not make him feel good. He didn't realize just how much Bruce mourns. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19378990

Title: In my arms Summary: There was nothing he could do. Nothing he could change. Those were the rules of the past. Besides, babies cried all the time, even if this was less a cry and more of an angry wail from a little one pushed past its limits. But still. He should have been on his way. He likely would have been, had this been a different home. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728655

Title: Innocence and experience Summary: What starts as a normal patrol ends up shaking up the world of Young Justice when a boy claiming to be a future Robin drops from the sky while chasing after a man in white. The Team struggles to deal with Damian and the future he represents all the while trying to return him to his rightful time. But for what purpose is this new villain in the past and can Damian and the Team stop him? Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9224534

Title: I Used to Be an Adventurer Like You, Then I Took an Arrow to the Knee Summary: Stephanie was just on patrol and now she’s stuck somewhere, sometime, with Bruce. They bleed and bond and mostly try to keep each other alive— you know, just a Tuesday. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16437716

Title: life, if well lived Summary: Jason wakes up from a time-travel mishap to find Thomas and Martha Wayne hovering over him. Just another day in the life, right? ...Not quite. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18378512

Title: Lost and Found Summary: Bruce is dying. Slowly, painfully. Not going out in a blaze of glory and defiance for a greater purpose. He's caving under the weight of his own age, under the damage he's done to his heart through the years. Terry can't be by his side constantly to do damage control. More than that, he can't watch it happen with no reprieve. But there's no one else. Terry needs help keeping vigil by an ill Bruce's bedside. But the old man had kids once, didn't he? Are the bridges he burned unable to be rebuilt? As he observes, Terry definitely starts to wonder how this family used to be. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12214692

Title: meet the robins Summary: sad little orphan bruce travels to the future and meets the family he’ll have one day :) too bad he can’t stay forever :( Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2685095

Title: Mint Chocolate Chip Summary: Summer vacations have been going on just long enough for Jason to start getting bored, when he gets an unexpected visitor. From the future. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18860545

Title: no one seems to go Summary: “Father,” Bruce mumbles, “I am something of an outlaw.” “Were you always this dramatic, son?” Thomas asks, the bed beneath them shaking as he shifts. “Alfred.” Bruce snorts, shaking his head. “Theatrics are his speciality, remember?” Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15663957

Title: Of your own making Summary: Jason died. Then he came back, forty years too late. It takes time to adjust. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20211523

Title: One Big Batty Family Summary: In which Billy Batson and the McGinnis siblings join the present day Batfam. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1133567

Title: Oops I did it again Summary: "You're insane." Or possibly an insane dream from eating chili dogs before bed. Which one Jason wasn't sure since he had yet to pinch himself. "I'm a member of the longer existing Dead Robins Club that doesn't even give you a lousy shirt. Not shocking Jay." Link: https://archiveofourown.org/series/936921

Title: Raisin Delight Summary: A year after Jason Todd dies, Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne take on the case when they notice strange occurrences in Gotham city. This has disastrous consequences, but so do most things that Tim gets caught up in, so what's new, really. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15644082

Title: Realization Summary: Bruce makes a discovery while conducting a check-up on Terry. Takes place midway through the "Splicers" episode. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/377468

Title: Strange Manor Summary: Bruce let his eyes close to wallow for a moment in worry and fear for Jason. One second, two, three. He opened his eyes. Time to act. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13474308

Title: The Incandescent Rose Summary: Terry McGinnis (the new Batman) impulsively asks marriage proposal advice from his mentor and grumpy father figure Bruce Wayne. When the older man describes a proposal in which he had been yelled at and abandoned, Terry can't help investigate the matter by seeing some of Bruce's most knowledgeable friends and family members. This search prompts someone else into action. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19414228

Title: The Time Travel Problem Summary: Barry Allen and Clark Kent, follow Bruce around during a time travel mission through Gotham City's recent past. If only Bruce would stay focused. Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21143081

Title: Younger Bruce, Older Jason Summary: Jason wakes up in the dead of night to an unexpected visitor. (Like you’ve never heard that one before...) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14867975