Shmegalamonga: Garamet

Showing posts with label Garamet. Show all posts

Saturday, November 29, 2025

RIP Tom Stoppard

From my future self in 6/8/26.

Like I said in the Terence Stamp, Graham Greene, and Diane Keaton ones, I had too much grief over my mother to do any of these.

I can tackle them now.

I found Stoppard's politics icky. You have to be full-on fascist to be full-on disgusting.

He was just...icky.

He was a pro-capitalist, pro-Christian, bourgeois elitist diet-Republican style liberal.

I don't know or care what the political labels would be in the UK; I just know I'm as sick to death of these "establishment libs" as the fascists.

I piss on the Clintons; I don't see Clinton-ism as some golden age; I don't see "The West Wing" as their Camelot legend that I get fucking misty and weepy over; and I think James Carville needs to be put out on a fucking ice floe instead of being treated like Yoda by our liberal pundit class.

I've fucking had it with these fucking people.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stoppard will always be the guy who wrote "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead".

And Margaret and I got to share in that.

And he didn't groom and diddle any kids. Unlike Michael Jackson or Woody Allen.

So, I can grit my teeth for Tom Stoppard on this one case.

Saturday, October 11, 2025

RIP Diane Keaton

From my future self in 6/8/26.

Like I said in the Terence Stamp and Graham Greene ones, I had too much grief over my mother to do any of these.

I can tackle them now.

*Skimming her filmography*

Jesus, none of this is my bag.

She's in the whole Godfather trilogy, but I can't say I'm a fan of those.

I saw "Annie Hall" in high school film history class, and I didn't love it, but it really skeeves me out now that Woody Allan is outed as a pedo.

Which is a bummer, cuz, "Annie Hall" is for her what "Superman" is for Christopher Reeve.

It's her signature role.

Oh!! Wait!! She directed an episode of "Twin Peaks"!!

Good enough!

Margaret Bonanno hated her everliving guts.

That tickled me for some reason.

I told her to avoid "Because I Said So" unless she wanted to jump in a vat of acid afterward.

She laughed.

That is a miserable movie, as the link title says. I did find Keaton...esthetically pleasing though.

I....put it more crudely at the time. 😏

You know what? Screw it, I'm gonna consider it an honorable tribute.

😆

Monday, February 17, 2025

Christmas loot 2024, Part 3.

-Part 1.

-Part 2.

There!! Finally finished off the last of these 2/11/25.

Same spoiler warning as last time.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

The Day Before The Revolution.

From last time....

I've got the PDF on the ol' HD, but I'd prefer a paper copy.

It comes in "The Wind's Twelve Quarters" along with "The Day Before The Revolution" a prequel to "The Dispossessed".

Well!!

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Birthday loot 2024, Part 6.

Well!! From not knowing at all what I wanted for my birthday, and not particularly giving a shit about my birthday, to now, its been quite the surprising saga!

I re-became a Le Guin fan; it helped put the cherry on top of changing my worldview, and now these home stretch cleanup movies.

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Birthday loot 2024, Part 3.

-Part 1.

-Part 2.

Finally!! Got this way back on August 16th. Shortly after my 2000's Marvel binge, and well before I nabbed Discovery season 5.

Eeeeverything conspired to slow down my reading.

But!! Here I am!!

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

D&W prequel marathon.

Acquiring and watching the Ghostrider duology got me in a mood to revisit more 2000's Marvel.

So, I re-watched all the movies for all the guest-appearance characters in "Deadpool & Wolverine".

Spoilers ahead.

Saturday, June 29, 2024

Sixteen years of Shmegalamonga!!!

Friday, June 21, 2024

12 years of the Harry Hembock books!

Since last time...

-Krazyfool Show turned 24.

-Krazyfool's Den Of Delusion turned 25.

Been three years since Margaret passed.

My grieving is finally all done.

That really beat the shit out of me.

I said it best about my philosophical reflection about the books last year.

Also said last year.....

Aaand, I'm working on my new book.

I keep chunking away on it year after year.

A book's only 300-400 pages.

It can't be written forever.

I have to get there someday.

Well, shit, I must have about 300-400 pages in notes by now!

I just gotta roll up my sleeves, and convert that shit into prose.

Yeah, basically, I have the book in powdered mix form; just gotta mix and cook that sunna-bitch!

Stay tuned!!

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Happy 25th anniversary of Krazyfool's Den Of Delusion!!!

-2013 (saga of the site)

-2014 (saga of Krazyfool Show)

-2015 (TFA was coming soon)

-2016 (Rogue One was being whispered)

-2017 (Rogue One was out)

-2018 (TLJ was out)

-2019 (TROS was coming soon)

-2020 (unobserved)

-2021 (unobserved)

-2022 (unobserved)

-2023 (unobserved)

(Sent back by my future self in 6/27/24)

Yeah, 2020-2023 were fucking covid, and Margaret grief, and I just didn't wanna fucking bother.

Why was I marking time with stupid Star Wars?

Oh, right, cuz the site and "Krazyfool Show" were the year of "Phantom Menace".

So, that just seemed like the thing to do.

Nah, fuck that. That's just what was going on pop-culture wise.

May as well have gone with "The Matrix" or "The Green Mile" or "The Messenger".

As for modern Star Wars, everyone's having a donnybrook over "The Acolyte" and I just don't fucking care. You can't make me care.

So, back to Krazyfool; last time, I did "Krazyfool 2" and was going to do a whole series of prequels.

Then I cancelled the prequels in favor of "The Vengeance/Emergence Saga".

Then I took down "Emergence Saga" for being written under rage-hate, and nothing good comes of that.

Well, there was some good world-building, and some funny non-revenge stuff; but to kill the revenge stuff, it all had to go.

So!! We're here now!

A quarter century of my website presence!

Holy shit!

I fucking did it.

In-fucking-sane.

Monday, December 25, 2023

Christmas loot 2023

No issues with Amazon this year for a change!!

Last year was a goddamned Three Stooges short.

Also, I'm not doing goofy themed titles anymore.

Anyway!

Monday, August 28, 2023

Isolation marathon: Update.

Okay, so here's what happened...

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

The (eleventh) YEAR Of Hembock!

-1st through 9th.

-10th.

Since last time...

-Harry turned 34.

-Krazyfool Show turned 23.

-Krazyfool's Den Of Delusion turned 24.

Been two years since Margaret passed.

She'll always be linked to these books, cuz she pushed me to put 'em out there.

Only made DVD shopping money off 'em.

I don't care.

I used to.

It used to bug me.

Gotta be philosophical about it.

It's more attention than they would have gotten not published.

And it's more money than my so-called friends made on the comic they put out in the 90's, and left me out of. After lying to my face that I'd be in it.

Just "surprise! Here it is!".

"Ope, I'm not in it; fuck you".

So, yeah. Sold more than them.

It's not about the money, it's about the eyeballs, and if it brought joy to those eyeballs.

James Gunn said in the commentary for "Super" if only one person sees "Super" and loves it, he made it for that person.

I feel the same with Harry.

I know in my marrow those books are funny.

If someone laughed, I win.

Margaret used to tell me she knew "a friend" in his 80's-90's who let a bunch of screenplays, and a whole musical about Thomas Paine, and a raft of cartoons just sit in a drawer.

I often thought she made this person up to motivate me.

I later found out the "friend" was her partner, Jack Donner.

He played Tal on the Star Trek TOS episode "The Enterprise Incident".

They met at a convention.

Apparently, he was a secret multi-talent.

Secret, cuz he wouldn't even scan and Amazon that shit.

I wish I saw his stuff.

But its gotta be gone now.

Even if Margaret saved it after he died, which I doubt, when she passed, her kids would have chucked it. That's too many filters to make it through.

It got landfilled.

Poor Jack.

Jesus.

So, hey, Harry has more of an immortality than Jack's cartoons.

There's that, I guess.

Well, Jack's got his acting immortality, anyway.

I salute and grin every time "Enterprise Incident" is on.

Aaand, I'm working on my new book.

I keep chunking away on it year after year.

A book's only 300-400 pages.

It can't be written forever.

I have to get there someday.

Stay tuned!

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Happy 10th birthday, Jade Shade!

Previous years.

-Year 3.

-Year 6 (unobserved)

Crap, I tuned right the fuck out and missed this.

BUT! I can wind the date back I think...

Anyway, yeah, Jade-Shade is done.

Done-ey done-done.

Friday, January 13, 2023

Happy 34th birthday, Harry Hembock!!!!!!!!

Previous birthdays.

-21st-31st.

-32nd.

-33rd.

Stuff that happened after the 33rd.

-The (tenth) YEAR Of Hembock!

-14th anniversary of Harry Hembock: Dark Designs! (Unobserved)

-17th anniversary of "Nobody Loves Harry Hembock". (Unobserved)

Almost forgot it this year.

It's midnight and change right now, but Google's midnight is 3 AM, so I've got time.

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Happy New Year!!! (2023)

-2009-2020

-2021

-2022

Now, the list...

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

RIP Angela Lansbury

(Sent back in time from my future-self in 2023, cuz I was still processing Margaret grief (re-activated by Nichelle Nichols passing) to do it at the time)

Must admit, I never got into "Murder, She Wrote".

My grandmother loved the shit out of it.

What I remember her best from were "Bedknobs And Broomsticks" and "The Last Unicorn".

People who only associate her as a G-rated good-guy really need to check her out in the latter.

Course, I'll take any opportunity to plug "Last Unicorn".

Margaret wrote her biography, so as with the Nichelle Nichols one, I'll paste her story about that here...

Let me ‘splain something upfront. I never met Ms. Lansbury. (Well, technically, several decades after the fact I stood behind her on line in the supermarket, but let’s not complicate things.) What the editor at St. Martin’s Press wanted was what’s known as an “unofficial” biography or, sometimes less flatteringly, a “paste-up” bio.

In short, the writer-contractor wrote entirely based on extant materials – newspaper clippings in those days, TV interviews done by others, if possible, any books already written by or about the subject – putting them all together in a kind of patchwork quilt/jigsaw puzzle/collage of a life story.

These days, it could be done in a couple of weeks by combing the Internet. In 1986, it was a matter of schlepping. Much schlepping. Three months’ worth of schlepping on a six-month deadline.

Why did I do it? I was not Ms. Lansbury’s Biggest Fan. Yes, I’d watched *Murder, She Wrote*. Yes, I was impressed with her work and knew something of her background on Broadway – *Mame*, *Sweeney Todd*, ad infinitum. But the reasons I agreed had nothing to do with adulation.

First, when I’d quit the Day Job, I’d miscalculated just how long it took the Star Trek parent company to cough up the royalties, so it looked as if I’d be short of income for anywhere from six months to a year.

Second, the editor who wanted the unofficial bio of Ms. Lansbury said he was also interested in looking at any fiction manuscript I might be working on. Given the mishegoss with with New American Library (which had finally dumped *Heroic Measures*), I needed a new home for my mainstream efforts.

Third, my agent also represented a journalist who worked for the *New York Post* and who had recently done a similar bio on Meryl Streep. She could get me an in at the *Post* archives – an invaluable resource in the pre-Google days.

I’d earn a little cash, could schlep around to libraries and archives in between the three-days-a-week temp job I’d picked up once I realized that, while *Dwellers in the Crucible* might have made the NYTimes best seller list for two weeks in the summer, I wasn’t going to see any royalties until the following year and, quite frankly, gain entrée to places (such as the Lincoln Center photo archive) that I’d never been before.

So, yes.

And, since I said everything I wanted to up top, I guess that's that.