Observation Deck: January 2022

Monday, January 31, 2022

USA Saturday Nightmares promo, 1985

Vassar laboratory -- training nurses

[between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920]

https://www.loc.gov/item/2014706581/

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Flash Gordon (1980)

Flash! Got the surround sound speakers working with the new TV. Flash Gordon Blu-ray is the test. This is a beautiful Blu-ray. Great Queen soundtrack with the sound up. Previous TV I had issues with the old 2001 Sony receiver.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Gordon_(film)

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/flash-gordon-1980

https://trailersfromhell.com/flash-gordon-4k/

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/flash-gordon-john-walsh-interview/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/628801/flash-gordon-movie-facts

[Airplane]

1920-21.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2016890803/

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055608/

Belted Kingfisher, 1. Male 2. Female

1842.

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-7320-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Mare Humorum

Date Issued: 1881 - 1882

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-e6ca-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

USA Tales of the Unexpected promo, 1984

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Unexpected_(TV_series)

Transformer manufacture.

1942 Feb. These huge aluminum spheres are used to test each power transformer which is ready to be shipped from a large Eastern electrical plant. Since lightning is apt to destroy power units in the field, each transformer is given an "artificial lightning" test to determine its ability to resist the elements. These spheres are part of a setup that produces 2,500,000 volts for testing purposes. Westinghouse, Sharon, Pennsylvania.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2017690769/

Friday, January 28, 2022

Ghostbusters Blu-ray

Moved the 40 inch HD TV downstairs to see how it fit. Ghostbusters was the only Blu-ray on that shelf. Quickly became one of my favorite Blu-rays. Shot really wide. Looks nice. Yes, have some.

https://observationdeck2.blogspot.com/2021/03/ghostbusters-1984.html

I Do Not Drink Wine and I Do Not Smoke Shit

Maui Waui. Really heavy shit.

Louisiana State Capital and grounds, Baton Rouge, La.

c1935. Top of capital is drawn in pencil.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2007662203/

KUNG FU THEATRE television spot (USA NETWORK, 1985)

I watched this on USA Network with Commander USA's Groovie Movies.

http://www.coolasscinema.com/2014/06/fists-kicks-and-kung-fu-theater-growing_29.html

Capitol Bldg., west front #1, Washington, D.C.

c1909.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2007662049/

Observation Deck by the Numbers

Do anything once a week for a year or more and it starts to add up:

- Roman Totenberg & Artur Balsam on Empire State Building observation deck [c.a. 1931-47]

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200217846/

Svengoolie - 69

Movies - 174

TV - 306

Magic - 49

Books - 15

Butterflies - 24

Video Games - 34

Automobiles - 50

Movie Posters - 54

Natural History - 89

Photography - 337

Bridges - 65

Lighthouses - 16

Radio - 67

Horror Host/Weekend Matinee - 105

Ormithoptera brookiana.

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-64ad-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Svengoolie: The Haunted Strangler (1958)

Directed by Robert Day. Boris Karloff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haunted_Strangler

https://medium.com/cinenation-show/though-imperfect-the-haunted-strangler-showcases-boris-karloffs-talent-to-scare-e25452c38da

https://www.avclub.com/monsters-and-madmen-1798202323

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Orchidelirium

Victorian flower madness but still exists today. People were killed in the search for rare orchids in foreign lands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchidelirium

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/orchidelirium-obsession-orchids-lasted-centuries-180954060/

Header/footer is a cyanotype:

White House orchids

Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer

[between 1889 and 1906]

https://www.loc.gov/item/2012646234/

https://www.loc.gov/item/2012646239/

Brooklyn Bridge

[between 1880 and 1897]

https://www.loc.gov/item/2016817499/

Suspense - You Died Last Night

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Martians and Misplaced Clues: The Life and Work of Fredric Brown - Jack Seabrook

Not much is known about Fredric Brown's life, so the biography part is limited, but it is a nice overview of his output in the crime genre and science fiction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredric_Brown

https://thegoldenhornblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/fredric-brown.html

[Automobile on road by waterfront]

1900-10.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2016809798/

Stratego (Commercial, 1983)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratego

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Master mystifier, Houdini the greatest necromancer of the age - perhaps of all times--The literary digest.

c1920.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2014637413/

Monday, January 24, 2022

[Dickinson College laboratory equipment]

c1876.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2005686167/

TBS Leave it to Beaver & Down to Earth promos, 1984

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Ensigns of Command

Season three, episode two. From Oct. 2, 1989. I move for no man.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ensigns_of_Command

https://www.avclub.com/star-trek-the-next-generation-evolution-the-ensign-1798165573

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Ensigns_of_Command_(episode)

Nude on the Moon

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056293/

The scollop-tailed lizard ; The orbicular lizard ; The basilisk

1812.

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-08b9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Cypress

Eye-Agate.

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/7d20c47c-24a8-d7f9-e040-e00a18060c58

[Electrical storms at night: silhouette of Grand Canyon]

c1914.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2007682980/

Species (1995)

Directed by Roger Donaldson. Free with Ads on Youtube. Natasha Henstridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_(film)

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/species-1995

https://www.yahoo.com/now/species-25-creative-clashes-063114875.html

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/10-remarkable-things-about-species/

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/revisiting-species-an-unloved-franchise/

Mt. Hyndman

c1911.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2007662261/

Friday, January 21, 2022

Capricorn One (1977)

Directed by Peter Hyams. Free with Ads on Youtube. James Brolin, Elliott Gould, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson, Hal Holbrook, Brenda Vaccaro, Karen Black, David Huddleston, Telly Savalas, David Doyle, James Karen. We have liftoff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capricorn_One

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/capricorn-one-1977-review/

Movies on NBC promo.

https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s2734capr.html

Precis albicincta.

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-64a7-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Svengoolie: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

Directed by Fred F. Sears. Curt Siodmak screenplay. Ray Harryhausen effects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_vs._the_Flying_Saucers

https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s609saucers.html

https://thespinningimage.co.uk/cultfilms/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=6647

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Military railroad bridge over Potomac Creek. Aquia Creek and Fredericksburg Railroad. Built by U.S.M.R.R. Construction Corps in 40 hours

1864.

https://www.loc.gov/item/91787348/

Suspense - Doom Machine

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Leslie, Margeurite, and friends, in automobile

1917 Aug. 18.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2018710464/

Scrabble Brand SENSOR, Electronic Word Game (Commercial, 1979)

https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/digital-logic/12/284/1557

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Stone walls and chains do not make a prison --- for Houdini

c1898.

https://www.loc.gov/item/2014636908/

Monday, January 17, 2022

Corby's laboratory

[between 1921 and 1922]

https://www.loc.gov/item/2016824031/

Batman 1981 WTBS Promo

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Contagion

Season two, episode 11. Thalmus Rasulala. Poorly reviewed by some of the revisitors but a decent IMDb rating and I liked it. One scene made me laugh out loud when Picard says "Welcome to the bridge, Mr. La Forge." From March 20, 1989.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contagion_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)