Ted Thai/Life Magazine
Ted Thai/Life Magazine
Tower Video, New York, NY, 1986.
Archive for August, 2012
Who is Pat Petersen, and what the fuck is he wearing?
Northgate Mall, Christmas, 1950. (Seattlepi.com File/SL)
Northgate Mall, Christmas, 1965. (Seattlepi.com File/SL)
Northgate Mall Directory, 1971. (Seattlepi.com File/SL)
Northgate Mall, December, 1974. (Seattlepi.com File/SL)
Northgate Mall during remodeling, 1997. (Seattlepi.com File)
Northgate Mall, July, 2011. (Casey McNerthney/seattlepi.com)
These shots are from a Seattle Post-Intelligencer photo history of Northgate Mall, from its opening on April 30, 1950, to present. The last photo above is taken from the same spot as the first photo.
1979 Sears Christmas Catalog: Big Trak and Rom
Published August 13, 2012 Catalogs , Remote Control 1 Comment
The Big Trak was kind of lame, to be honest, but if I found one on my doorstep I would probably start weeping with glee. Why make me pre-program my space vehicle to go places instead of letting me remote control it the whole damn time? At least give me both options, right? I guess it gave kids the idea that they were computer programmers, and that in the future this experience would get them hired by NASA to drive a much bigger space vehicle around the fields and mountains of Mars. Hell, maybe the Mohawk Guy had a Big Trak!
Ah, Rom. Sir, you are no Micronauts.
B is for Bradbury: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Published August 9, 2012 Books , Magazines/Zines , Ray Bradbury 1 Comment
It reared up, seized the tower and gnashed at the glass. The foghorn and the monster cried.
I really dig this illustration (click to enlarge) by James R. Bingham for the Ray Bradbury story The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1951. The story would become the basis for a 1953 movie of the same name featuring the brilliant stop-motion effects of Bradbury’s great friend, Ray Harryhausen. Having sold the rights to the title, Bradbury subsequently changed the name of the story to The Fog Horn. It appeared for the first time under that name in Bradbury’s first collection of short stories, The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953).
What the Future Looked Like: Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Published August 8, 2012 '80s Movies/TV , Sci-Fi Movies/TV , Sci-Fi Production Design , What the Future Looked Like 1 Comment
Quick Movie Reviews: Flight of the Navigator (1986)
Published August 7, 2012 '80s Movies/TV , Disney , Disney Movies , Movie Reviews 2 CommentsFlight of the Navigator starts out strong. After a family outing on the Fourth of July, 12-year-old Joey is sent to fetch his annoying little brother from a friend’s house, but along the way big brother falls into a ravine and knocks himself out. When he wakes up and hoofs it back to his house, some old lady answers the door. She has no idea who he is. His parents are nowhere to be found. It turns out he’s been missing for 8 years. His parents, now visibly aged and haggard, break down when the police return him. His little brother is now his big brother.
This is pretty dark stuff for a Disney film, but it quickly becomes sort of an E.T. meets Close Encounters clone, with a dash of D.A.R.Y.L. and a pinch of Explorers. As the kid and his family are trying to figure out what’s going on, NASA discovers a crashed alien spacecraft. Dr. Faraday (Howard Hesseman from WKRP and Head of the Class) smells a link between the unaged Joey and the alien ship, and moves the kid to a scientific facility for observation. Hip teen rocker Carolyn (Sarah Jessica Parker) befriends Joey and eventually helps him bust out and get to the ship (a presence inside has been calling to him telepathically).
You can figure out what happens next. It’s a fun little movie with some substance, back when filmmakers treated kids with some respect.
Mars, ’50s Style
Published August 6, 2012 Sci-Fi/Space Art , Space Travel/Exploration , What the Future Looked Like Leave a Comment
In honor of the Curiosity Rover’s successful Mars landing, I give you these awesome shots from a series on space exploration that ran in Collier’s Magazine from 1952 to 1954. Get more pics and details of the series at Paleofuture, my new favorite blog.
2 Warps to Neptune 