Thursday, April 16, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Trailer 2 in HD

A New Stunning Gallery of Fractal Flames by John Pirillo

Been creating a lot of these colorful fractal landscapes lately and wanted to share some more. They're so much fun creating that I forget what time it is, and usually find myself burnt out and ready to collapse into bed it's so late.

Enjoy!

John

Bound to the One You Love "A Cartoon Story" by John Pirillo

Bound to the One You Love

"A Cartoon Story"

by John Pirillo

She first realized she was bound to the one she loved when she had to come to his rescue against the Sea Gnats. They were an obscure life form found only in the lowest dimensions of her world. They obscured people's view of them, much like the legendary Sirens of Johnnie's world. They lured them into their hives, and then ate them.

In their less fettered forms, they resembled giant gnats, with multiple eyes, legs and legs. They had no hands, except as illusions. They were mainly eating machine and cutting machine. Mouths to eat their victims and legs to slash them to pieces.

Johnnie had made the mistake of using his newfound powers to touch one of the older Golden Age Magazine covers in the antique book store they had been looking through for information about zombies. Why zombies? Because that was one of the few creatures that didn't need an invite to enter Johnnie's world. Too many people believed in them and thus a portal was always open for them to charge onto Earth and deal their kind of death and destruction.

The newspapers always reported them as members of cults, or serial killers. Cults reported them as demons that had been summoned by them. But the average person just got attacked and assimilated into their hordes, which had been growing by leaps and bounds since she had entered Johnnie's world.

"Hey Glow!" Johnnie slung at her.

She looked up from the book in her lap. She sat in the dark. She didn't need the light next to her, because her body threw off enough light for a hundred light bulbs when she allowed it. She squinted at him. Her eyes were tired.

"Penny for your thoughts." He told her with a smile, slipping next to her on the couch, and putting an arm around her shoulders. She snuggled into him and told him what she was thinking.

"I can't always come to your rescue."

He turned around, letting go. She felt immediately abandoned, but said nothing.

He looked at her face. "Why would you have to? I can take care of myself."

"But what if one day you don't have a comic book on you, or one that doesn't allow you to become what's needed."

"Don't you believe in fate?"

"Yes. I do. The one we make for ourselves through our freewill."

He sighed, and then slipped further away from her.

"Okay. So I don't. Then I deal with it like I always do."

"But..."

He got up. She could tell he was disgusted with the turn of her conversation. But she wouldn't let go of it. She was too worried. "You could die." She blurted out.

He stopped and looked at her sadly. "Everyone dies."

"But not the way you might."

He nodded, but went outside anyway, shutting the door behind him.

She shut her eyes, thinking why she had allowed herself to become so drawn to this human. He was still a child in so many ways. He didn't even pick up his socks when he threw them on the floor. Then she grinned. Neither did she, but then, she never wore them.

The front door banged open and Johnnie ran inside. "Get ready!"

She jumped up in alarm.

"For what?"

He grabbed her and swung her up into the air, laughing. "Dinner!"

They took the metro downtown to the Denny's he loved. Chicken sandwiches, thick shakes and curly fries.

"These..."

"Fries. They're called fries. Curly fries."

"They taste sooooo good."

"It's the salt."

"Salt?"

"Yeah. They bury them in salt."

She frowned. He laughed and squeezed her right hand.

"Not literally, it's just that these guys have got the French fry thing down. Give the people whatever they want, but make sure it's got lots of salt or sugar, or both on it, then they'll eat anything and love it."

"That's dishonest." She said, putting her curly fry down.

"Yup."

"But doesn't it make you mad?"

"Sure it does, but it sure tastes good." He said, shoving a handful of fries into his mouth.

She slapped him across his left arm with her handbag.

"Johnnie!"

"Okay." He set down his next handful of fries and faced her. "It's like this. I can't change the world. I'm only one person."

"You can change it one fry at a time."

"How?"

"Don't eat them."

"You've got to be kidding!"

"I'm not. Stop eating them. At least one of you won't be contributing to the lies."

"But then I'd be lying to myself."

"What!"

"Because I do like them...salt and sugar and all."

With those words he shoved the rest of the curly fries into his mouth.

Across from them at the counter a tall man turned around. It had a handful of fingers in its clasp and shoved them into its mouth. "You should listen to him." The zombie said with a foul grin. "They do taste good. Salt and sugar and all."

Cartoon slammed from her booth and began hammering the man with her handbag.

Johnnie rushed over and stopped her.

The man rubbed his head and got up from his stool as an alarmed waitress grabbed a phone and began to dial.

"Hey! It's Halloween. Can't you take a joke, lady?"

He marched out of Denny's, his face red with anger.

She turned to face Johnnie. He was laughing.

"You knew?"

"Well."

Then she began hitting him with her handbag.

What was a Cartoon to do with such a rascally human being like him? She hit him again.

Johnnie touched the comic book in his back pocket and his form changed into that of an angel. She gasped and fell back. He gave her an angelic look. The waitress gasped and dropped her phone. The other customers began crossing themselves.

"I'm such an angel." He said. "You really hurt my feelings."

"Ohhhh. I hate you, Johnnie!" Cartoon spouted, and then ran into his arms and they kissed.

And that's what it's like to be bound to the one you love, she thought again as she held him close, savoring his breath and his touch. You just love them no matter what...and...her thoughts grew wicked for a moment...gets ready to clobber them when they get off the train tracks.

But she didn't tell him what she was thinking as he lifted her into his arms, stepped out of Denny's, and then flapped into the air and flew her home. After all, he was her Johnnie Angel. For a time.

The Baker Street Adventures: The Death of Conan

I remember as a child picking up an obscure writer in the adult section of our library. My parents had let me loose in the adult section because I had already consummed everything else worth reading in the children's. I was about eight years old then, maybe ten. I was thumbing through the book stacks and shelves and found this book called the Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I read it and was absolutely blown away by the tone and breadth of the writing. How could someone write something so incredibly imaginative and real sounding? I finished that book rapidly and went back for more. That was when I also found out about Sherlock Holmes.

Ever since that day in the library I have been a confirmed fan of Sir Author Conan Doyle, and like any good fan, I refuse to let him die. I have resurrected him in my own writer's universe, which I call the Baker Street Universe.

You call check out my site dedicated to that universe by clicking HERE.

As I aged, which we all inevitably and tragically do, I began to get this idea that maybe it would be as fun writing stories as reading them. I astounded my 7th grade teacher, Mister Bronze, with a spell binding three paragraph...maybe five or six, don't remember for sure...story about an American Astronaut who hides aboard a Russian Sputnik in an attempt to stop it from nuking our country. Quite naive at the time, but fun anyway.

Since then I've grown up a bit, and aged a bit more, but have never lost the love of a good tale, and so I began taking the dictations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his good friend, Professor Challenger, in an effort to record for posterity the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his good friends, the Baker Street Adventurers.

Below is the cover for my first story, which not only includes the miraculous reincarnation and rebirth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but also includes his famous friend, Sherlock Holmes, in the flesh who takes him along with Professor Challenger on amazing adventures in sleuthing and mystery.

The Death of Conan is the first of many dozens of stories about Sherlock Holmes, as well as Conan Doyle. It follows him from this world to the next, and what a delightful wake up to find out you've been translated from a dying old man on Earth to a living, spritely young man in a new world where all the characters you've written about are alive and well, and better yet, your friends!

Purchase it now at AMAZON for only 99cents!

(New) Robinson Crusoe on Clipper Island Chapter 4

I remember seeing this as a kid in the theaters and was hugely impressed, but then aren't most kids at that age.

Enjoy!

John

From Wikipedia

Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) is a Republic Movie serial starring Ray Mala. It was the fourth of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic and the last (of four) to be released in 1936. Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island is notable for being the first Republic serial to contain another common aspect of serials - a Re-Cap Chapter, similar to a clipshow in modern television where the events of the previous chapters are repeated via clips (in order to save money). This, contrary to popular belief was not the invention of the concept, which had been routinely used in serial production before the release of this serial. The serial was edited into the film Robinson Crusoe of Mystery Island, which was released in 1966.

Classic Movie Serials and Modern Times, Captain Midnight arrives!

I thought it would be fun to examine another of the old World War Two Classic Movie Serials. During the forties and thirties out nation was going through the depression, the start of the world wide conflict brought on by fascism, and soon a World Wide War that cost the lives of millions on both sides of the equation.

In retropsect we can think and make a lot of opinions of what should have happened, but a positive outcome from such a horrid period of time was the introduction of movie serials...great big, hair raising, gun banging, fists slamming, women screaming adventures that lurched with flying soldiers, invisible villains, space ships, cloaked avengers and on and on fantasies that kept the American mind engaged in some kind of retreat from the horrors of war, famine and loss that ached through the thirties and forties.

In many ways our own period of time is a reflection of that time because our world faces famine on a world wide scale, global warming, traumatic climate change, endless acts of terror and seemingly unending acts of war...whether stupid or not, we'll leave for history to record.

So here's a little wikipedia on one of those World War Two Classic Movie Serials, which will be followed by the first chapter of Captain Midnight! once we complete the Robinson Crusoe on Clipper Island serial.

Enjoy

John

Captain Midnight

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Captain Midnight (disambiguation).

For the Heinlein character, see The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.

For the Disney Channel television series, see The Famous Jett Jackson.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2013)

Promotional art for Captain Midnight #0 (2012 Free Comic Book Day). Art by Raymond Swanland.

Captain Midnight (later rebranded on television as Jet Jackson, Flying Commando) is a U.S. adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949.

[hide]

Radio origins[edit]

Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, the Captain Midnight radio program was the creation of radio scripters Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M. Burtt, who had previously scored a success for Skelly with their boy pilot adventure serial The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen.

Developed at the Blackett, Sample and Hummert advertising agency in Chicago, Captain Midnight began as a syndicated show in 1938, airing through the spring of 1940 on a few Midwest stations, including Chicago's WGN.^[1] In 1940, Ovaltine, a product of The Wander Company, took over sponsorship. With Pierre Andre as announcer, the series was then heard nationally on the Mutual Radio Network where it remained until 1942. It moved to the Merchandise Mart and the NBC Blue Network in September 1942.^[2] When the U.S. Government broke up the NBC Red and Blue Networks, Ovaltine moved the series back to Mutual, beginning September 1945, and it remained there until December, 1949.

Premise[edit]

The title character, originally Captain Jim "Red" Albright, was a World War I U. S. Army pilot. His Captain Midnight code name was given by a general who sent him on a high-risk mission from which he returned at the stroke of 12. When the show began in 1938, Albright was a private aviator who helped people, but his situation changed in 1940. When the show was taken over by Ovaltine, the origin story explained how Albright was recruited to head the Secret Squadron, an aviation-oriented paramilitary organization fighting sabotage and espionage during the period prior to the United States' entry into World War II. The Secret Squadron acted both within and outside the United States.

When the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, which curiously was foreshadowed in the program, the show shifted the Secret Squadron's duties to fight the more unconventional aspects of the war. Besides the stock villain, Ivan Shark, the war years introduced Axis villains, Baron von Karp, Admiral Himakito and von Schrecker. The Secret Squadron wartime activities were usually outside the continental United States, with adventures in Europe, South America, the Pacific, and continental Asia. War related subject matter included the theft of an experimental Flying Wing aircraft, radar coupled antiaircraft guns, jet aircraft and other weapons.

After the war, some of the newer villains used war surplus equipment to carry out their activities. Secret Squadron activities shifted to contending with criminals as well as spies. The action continued to operate internationally, with adventures in South America and Africa as well as within the United States.

The show was extremely popular, with an audience in the millions. Just under half the listeners were adult, and it was a favorite of WWII U.S Army Air Corps (U.S. Air Force) crews when they were stationed in the U.S. Radio premiums offered by the series (usually marked with his personal symbol of a winged clock with the hands pointing to midnight) included decoders, and these Code-O-Graphs were used by listeners to decipher encrypted messages previewing the next day's episode, usually broadcast once a week. Other premiums included rings, telescopes, and WWII items. (The broadcast messages were encrypted with relatively trivial monoalphabetic substitution ciphers with word division.)

The scripts depicted women who were treated as equals, not just characters waiting to be rescued. Both Joyce Ryan of the Secret Squadron and Fury Shark, daughter of villain Ivan Shark, pulled their own weight in the adventures. Joyce went on commando raids and became involved in aerial dogfights during World War II.

Characters[edit]

Captain Midnight — World War I aviator who leads the Secret Squadron, though he spends much time in the field actively contending with crime, espionage, and sabotage. Extremely skilled aviator with an ability to fly almost any aircraft superlatively. He is usually accompanied by a team consisting of three Secret Squadron members. Played by Ed Prentiss, Bill Bouchey and Paul Barnes with Prentiss playing the part the longest.
Chuck Ramsay — Captain Midnight's ward, a young man in his late teens or early twenties who is a Secret Squadron agent. Prior to the formation of the Secret Squadron, he shared adventures with his guardian. A member of Captain Midnight's usual team, he was played by Jules Getlin, Dolph Nelson, Billy Rose, Jack Bivans and Johnny Coons.
Ichabod "Ikky" Mudd — The Secret Squadron's Chief Mechanic. Mudd knew Captain Midnight briefly before the Secret Squadron was formed, and joined the Squadron shortly after it was formed. A member of Captain Midnight's usual team played by Hugh Studebaker, Sherman Marks and Art Hern, he was responsible for the development of the Code-O-Graph and also developed some weapons before and during World war II.
Joyce Ryan — A young woman in her late teens or early twenties who is a Secret Squadron agent. She was originally discovered as an amnesiac by Captain Midnight and Chuck Ramsay during a 1941 skirmish with the forces of Ivan Shark. She became a Secret Squadron member after several adventures with Captain Midnight, Chuck Ramsay, and Ichabod Mudd, replacing an earlier female companion named Patsy Donovan. Prior to World War II, she regained her memory and elected to remain in the Secret Squadron. A member of Captain Midnight's usual team, she was played by Marilou Neumayer and Angeline Orr.
Agent Kelly, SS-11 — Lyle William Kelly, a Secret Squadron agent who frequently accompanied Captain Midnight's usual team on their adventures. Kelly was Captain Midnight's usual contact to his superior, Major Barry Steele. Kelly was played by Olan Soule.
Major Barry Steele — U. S. Army Intelligence officer who was recalled from inactive duty as Captain Midnight's superior officer. Steele usually worked in the background but often provided the Secret Squadron with data and equipment. He often provided assignments for the Secret Squadron but left its administration to Captain Midnight.
"Mr. Jones" — Pseudonym used by the mysterious highly placed government official who created the Secret Squadron and made Captain Midnight its commander, implicitly thePresident of the United States.
Ivan Shark — Ruthless criminal mastermind who developed a highly efficient mercenary organization. Shark often sold services of his organization to agents of foreign governments. Played by Boris Aplon, he was the default villain on the radio program, and although he was captured or thought killed many times, he always returned to plague the hero until, in the final episode, he was eaten by a polar bear while Captain Midnight watched from a plane overhead.
Fury Shark — Ivan Shark's devoted daughter and sadistic second in command in his organization. She frequently took command when Ivan Shark was unable to function (e.g., in prison). Highly intelligent, she always proved herself capable. She was played by Rene Rodier and Sharon Grainger.
Gardo — One of Ivan Shark's principal aides. Gardo was portrayed as being loyal, but relatively slow witted, and frequently the butt of Shark's wrath. Occasionally acted as Ivan Shark's pilot.
Fang — One of Ivan Shark's pre-war aides, Fang was an Oriental, who always addressed Shark as "Master." His presence vanished after World War II.
The Barracuda — Head of an extensive criminal organization similar to Ivan Shark's, but headquartered in the Orient. The Barracuda headed the Tiger Tong, a Chinese gang, and had his own private air force. Killed in 1942.
Baron von Karp — Nazi World War II villain with whom the Secret Squadron contended, first in the United States, then in occupied Europe.
Admiral Himakito — Japanese officer with whom the Secret Squadron contended in the Pacific theater during World War II.

In other media[edit]

This section appears to contain unverifiable speculation and unjustified claims. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. Please remove unverified speculation from the article. (January 2015)

Film[edit]

Popular actor-stunt man Dave O'Brien had the title role in the Columbia Pictures 15-episode serial Captain Midnight (1942). The serial used some of the characters from the radio show, but differed significantly from the radio program. Missing were the Secret Squadron and the Squadron equipment. The Captain Midnight character was presented as a masked secret identity for Captain Albright.

Television[edit]

Richard Webb as Captain Midnight, 1954.

The Captain Midnight TV series, produced by Screen Gems and starring Richard Webb, began September 9, 1954, on CBS, continuing for 39 episodes until January 21, 1956. In the television program, Captain Midnight (now a veteran of the Korean War) heads the Secret Squadron as a private organization, in contrast to the radio show. As with the Fawcett comic, the only other character of the radio show held over was Ichabod Mudd (played by Sid Melton), who was used for comic relief. Another regular character was Dr. Aristotle "Tut" Jones, Midnight's resident scientist, played by character actor Olan Soule. (Soule was the only actor to perform in both the radio program and the television program. In the radio program, he played Agent Kelly, SS-11.)

The aircraft featured in the series is the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket, named the Silver Dart, and was based on using both models and occasionally stock footage. The series filmed at the Ray Corrigan Ranch in Simi Valley, California. When the TV series went into syndication in 1958, Ovaltine was no longer the sponsor. However, The Wander Company owned the rights to the character's name "Captain Midnight", forcing a title change by Screen Gems fromCaptain Midnight to Jet Jackson, Flying Commando, and all references in the episodes to Captain Midnight were redubbed (rather poorly) "Jet Jackson".

Comic strip[edit]

A newspaper comic strip, based closely on the radio program, made its debut in 1942. The strip, bylined by "Jonwan" (Erwin L. Hess) was drawn in a style similar to that of Milton Caniff. As with the radio show, the major characters were retained, including Joyce Ryan, Chuck Ramsay, Ichabod Mudd and Major Barry Steele. The strip was released by the Chicago Sun Syndicate on June 29, 1942, and ran until the late 1940s. The strip had some differences from the radio show and did not reprise the radio adventures. In the strip, Captain Midnight was referred to as "an unofficial fighter for freedom," which is at variance from the radio show, where the Secret Squadron was set up by a high governmental official ("Mr. Jones"), which the hero was recruited to head (unless, of course, "unofficial" meant, in the modern pop-culture sense, "subject to official disavowal if caught or killed on a politically sensitive mission"). Even with the variants, it was far closer to the radio show than any of the other spinoffs.

Comic book[edit]

Cover for Captain Midnight comic book #1 (September, 1942). Art byJack Binder.

After Dell in 1941, Fawcett published Captain Midnight from June 1942 to Sept 1948.^[3] The Fawcett character bore little resemblance to the radio character, and only the character Ichabod Mudd^[4] appeared regularly in the comic as the sidekick Sgt. Twilight.

Captain Midnight in the comic had a skintight scarlet suit and an array of gizmos like Dr. Mid-Nite which released clouds of blinding darkness, the infra-red "Doom-Beam Torch" which he used to burn his emblem into walls and unlucky villains, and a "Gliderchute" (similar to the flying Wingsuit) attached to the sides of his costume.

In his Captain Albright secret identity he was a genius-level inventor like Edison. He had a secret laboratory in the desert. Otto Binder was one of the writers on the comic book.

In 2010, Moonstone Publishing's revival of the 1940s title "Air Fighters Comics" published its issue #1, which included a new Captain Midnight story.

In 2012, Dark Horse reintroduced the character, with a 3-part story written by Joshua Williamson with art by Victor Ibañez and Pere Pérez.^[5] In June 2013,Captain Midnight #1 was released by the same publisher as an ongoing series.^[6]

Books[edit]

In 2010, Moonstone Books published a collection of new Captain Midnight short stories entitled Captain Midnight Chronicles. The book's stories reflect an amalgamated version of the Captain Midnight character and his supporting cast, and incorporate elements from the various media incarnations of the character, including the radio and television series, the Columbia movie serial and Fawcett comic book.

Listen to[edit]

1949 Key-O-Matic Code-O-Graph

References[edit]

Jump up^ Variety, September 13, 1939 issue, page 33
Jump up^ Variety, October 07, 1942 issue, page 38
Jump up^ Captain Midnight at Grand Comics Database
Jump up^ Blue Beetle & scheduling
Jump up^ Dark Horse Presents #18
Jump up^ "http://www.newsarama.com/18165-pulp-hero-captain-midnight-travels-to-dark-horse-s-present-day.html", Newsarama, 21 June 2013

John Pirillo's ImagineNation

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