Review Tuesday: Phantasm (1979)

  

 

 Phantasm

1979

Something very odd is happening at the local funeral parlor.

I remember seeing parts of this movie as a child, but have never seen it all the way through. Many horror aficionados hail PHANTASM as one of the all-time greats so I have always felt an urge to re-visit this film. Thanks to my BFF, I finally got around to it. 

 

The movie starts off with a man getting murdered while laid. The lovely woman in lavender transforms into the terrifying tall man who happens to be the local funeral director. He's apparently up to no good, but what is it? Brothers Mike and Jody (A. Michael Baldwin & Bill Thornbury) take it upon themselves to figure out what's going on. 

 

I have to say that I had high expectations for this movie based on word of mouth, but it was pretty terrible and incredibly underwhelming. I am not sure how it's developed a cult following. The story is pretty weak. The acting is awful. Special effects were rudimentary. I simply don't see what people adore about it.    

 

  

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

pulchritudinous \puhl-kri-TOOD-n-uhs, -TYOOD-\ adjective 

• physically beautiful; comely. 

Origin: Pulchritudinous is built on the Latin word for "beautiful," pulcher. The noun pulchritude entered English in the mid-1400s; pulchritudinous did not gain traction in the US until the late 1800s. 

bedding the rules

• When you sleep with a figure of authority in order to move higher up whatever ladder you are on.

Sandra knew her fake boobs and blonde hair could only get her so far. If she was ever going to win this beauty pageant she would have to start bedding the rules.Did you hear about that intern Monica? apparently she's started bedding the rules.

History 

• Moulin Rouge: France's most famous cabaret opened in the Montmartre section in Paris (1889)
• The Jazz Singer: first full-length talkie debuted with songs and 291 spoken words (1927)
• The Curse of the Billy Goat: began when Billy Sianis and his goat were ejected from Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series; Sianis predicted that the Cubs would never again win a World Series, and, so far, they haven't even been in one since then (1945)
• Yom Kippur War: Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish year (1973)
• Anwar Sadat: Egypt's president was assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists while reviewing a military parade in Cairo (1981)

Birthdays

• Wenceslas III (1289-1306): King of Hungary 
• Jenny Lind 1820
• George Westinghouse 1846 - Founder of Westinghouse Electric Company and invented railway braking systems

• Reginald Fessenden 1866
• Le Corbusier 1887
• Jerome Cowan 1897
• Florence Seibert 1897
• Jack Sharkey 1902
• Helen Wills Moody 1905
• Janet Gaynor 1906
• Carole Lombard 1908
• Thor Heyerdahl 1914
• H.R. (Bum) Bright 1920
• Shana Alexander 1925
• Paul Badura-Skoda 1927
• Hafez Assad (Syria) 1930
• Fred Graham 1931
• Anna Quayle 1936
• Britt Ekland 1942
• Fred Travalena 1942
• Millie Small 1946
• Klaus Dibiasi 1947
• Thomas McClary (The Commodores) 1950
• David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) 1954
• Elisabeth Shue 1963
• Matthew Sweet 1964
• Tim Rushlow 1966
• Kitty (B-Rock and the Bizz) 1971
• Bobby Farrell (Boney M) 1949
• Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) 1951
• Amy Jo Johnson 1970
  Olivia Thirlby 1986 (Cassandra Anderson in Dredd)

  

  

   

Look forward to Megan

 

 

MEGAN FOX 

 

  

  

HOTTY OF THE DAY

 

cred to ou 

Monday, October 5, 2026

rusticate\ RUHS-ti-keyt \ , verb;

1. to go to the country.
2. to stay or sojourn in the country.
3. to send to or domicile in the country.
4. to make rustic, as persons or manners. to finish (a wall surface) so as to produce or suggestrustication.
5. British . to suspend (a student) from a university as punishment.

Origin: Rusticate is derived from the Latin verb rusticārī meaning "to live in the country." It entered English in the mid-1600s.

 

lego hair

• a particularly shitty male haircut in which the sides cover the ears and the hair appears to be "snap on".

Cha Chi hadn't had a haircut in weeks. When he showed up it looked like he had lego hair.

History

• "From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever": Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé tribe makes his famous statement of surrender to US Cavalry troops (1877)
• Jarrow March: 200 protesters set out on a walk from Jarrow in northeastern England to Parliament in London in a bid to draw attention to their unemployment and poverty (1936)
• Dr. No: the first James Bond 007 movie came out (1962)
• Monty Python's Flying Circus: debuted on BBC-TV (1969)
• PBS: nonprofit TV network began broadcasting (1970)

  

Birthdays

• Chester A. Arthur (U.S.) 1830
• Robert H. Goddard 1882 - Known as the "Father of the Space Age"
• Ray Kroc 1902 - Founder of McDonalds
  
• Larry Fine 1902
• Joshua Logan 1908
• Allen Ludden 1918
• Donald Pleasence 1919
• Bil Keane 1922
• Glynis Johns 1923
• Bill Dana 1924
• Gail Davis 1925
• Richard Gordon, Jr. 1929
• Skip (George) Homeier 1930
• Diane Cilento 1933
• Margie Singleton 1935
• Vaclav Havel (Czechoslovakia) 1936
• Johnny Duncan 1938
• Carlo Mastangelo (Dion and The Belmonts) 1938
• Arlene Smith (The Chantels) 1941
• Richard Street (The Temptations) 1942
• Steve Miller (The Steve Miller Band) 1943
• Brian Connolly (The Sweet) 1948
• Jeff Conaway 1949
• B.W. Stevenson 1949
• Brian Johnson (AC/DC) 1947 
• Eddie Clarke (Motorhead) 1950
• Karen Allen 1951
• Clive Barker 1952
• Harold Faltemeyer 1952
• Russ Mael (Sparks) 1953
• Bob Geldof (Boomtown Rats) 1954
• David Bryson (Counting Crows) 1954
• Leo Barnes (Hothouse Flowers) 1955
• Bernie Mac 1957
• Daniel Baldwin 1960
• Michael Andretti 1962
• Dave Dederer (Presidents of the U.S.A.) 1964
• Mario Lemieux (NHL) 1965
• Guy Pearce 1967
• Josie Bissett 1970
• Grant Hill 1972
• Kate Winslet 1975
• Scott Weinger 1975
• Brian Mashburn (Save Ferris) 1975
• Paul Thomas (Good Charlotte) 1980

  

 

  

Happy Birthday HOOTERS!

Happy Birthday Hooters!

2026

  

  

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Hooters!

 

 

 

 

Cuz who doesn't love buffalo wings and cold beer?

 

 

 

Sunday, October 4, 2026

ethos \ EE-thos, EE-thohs, ETH-os, -ohs \ , noun; 

1. Sociology . the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period: In the Greek ethos the individual was highly valued.
2. the character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc. 
3. the moral element in dramatic literature that determines a character's action rather than his or her thought or emotion.

Origin: Ethos comes from the Greek term meaning "custom; habit; character," and provides the root for the term ethics . It entered English in the 1600s.

manicorn

• a mythical male creature who is successful (read: pursuing his passion and can pay his electric bills/rent), funny, chivalrous, masculine (read: not chauvinistic), adventurous, artistic (read: not suicidal). See any John Cusack film (or Chuck Klosterman's witty commentary on Fake Love in Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Pops), any romantic comedy where the flawed guy comes through in the end...

"Where is my manicorn? I keep going out with all these losers!"

"Too bad I settled when I got married, I just met my manicorn."

Trivia

What was Hannah Montana TV star Miley Cyrus’ given name at birth?

• Destiny. Her childhood nickname, Smiley, morphed into Miley, which legally became her first name in 2008 when she was 15.

 

 

History

• Gregorian calendar: was proclaimed by Pope Gregory XIII; this date, October 4, was followed immediately by October 15 in Spain, Portugal, Poland and most of Italy (1582)
• US Open golf tournament: was played for the first time; the $150 prize was won by Horace Rawlins (1895)
• Sputnik: the space race began when Russia launched the first man-made satellite into orbit (1957)
• Pope Paul VI: became the first pontiff to visit the US when he addressed the UN General Assembly in New York (1965)
• Hooters, the delightfully tacky yet unrefined restaurant chain came into being (1983)
  

  

   

  

  
  

  

   

Birthdays

• Rutherford B. Hayes (U.S.) 1822
• Frederic S. Remington 1861
• Edward L. Stratemeyer 1862
• Damon Runyon 1884
• Buster Keaton 1895
• Frankie Crosetti 1910
• Jan Murray 1917
• Charlton Heston 1924
• Alvin Toffler 1928
• Leroy Van Dyke 1929
• Felicia Farr 1932
• Sam Huff 1934
• Eddie Applegate 1935
• Anne Rice 1941
• Lori Saunders 1941
• Jackie Collins 1941
• Nona Hendryx 1944
• Clifton Davis 1945
• Susan Sarandon 1946
• James Fielder (Buffalo Springfield) 1947
• Armand Assante 1949
• Alan Rosenberg 1950
• Barbara McDonald (Timbuk 3) 1958
• Chris Lowe (Pet Shop Boys) 1959
• Greg Hubbard (Sawyer Brown) 1960
• Jon Secada 1961
• David W. Harper 1961
• Liev Schreiber 1967
• Alicia Silverstone 1976
• Rachael Leigh Cook 1979
• Jimmy Workmann 1980
• Michael Charles Roman 1987