We welcome your feedback.JOHN "THE CREATURE" LEWIS SPEAKS
Hello Everyone:
I finally got access to a computer for a few minutes so Here we go. The castle inhabitants have been getting restless lately and who can blame them. The Zombie fest of the new millennium is upon us. Yes, Dawn Of The Dead hits the theaters Friday and I will surely be there. I'll reserve judgement until I see it but it looks to be a pretty good (and scary) movie. I'm looking forward to it. Long live DOTD! (or is that un-live?)In comic news, The Man Of Steel is making a comeback in a big way. He is kicking tail and taking names. Superman is going through a bit of an upgrade courtesy of some talented friends; Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner, Talent Caldwell, Jim Lee, Jason Gorder, and others. All of the first issues with the Michael Turner covers are sell-outs from the printers and quickly coming back with second printings. Keep an eye on Superman folks 'cause this one could be big.
This week saw the release of Superman/Batman # 8 and with it the arrival of a six-issue story arc with Jeph Loeb writing and interior art by Michael Turner introducing a new beginning for Supergirl. (remember, we talked about her last year). This one is sure to be a sell-out like all the rest.
Next month Jim Lee moves in to begin his run on Superman. It promises to be an exciting year for Supes and I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway, have a Great Week. C-Ya!!!
John "The "Creature" Lewis
FILMMAKER KATHARINE LEIS ON LA FLA REVIEW OF HER DVD
Hi Will,
Thank you so much! It was great to meet you...I've just read your column and I am truly touched (Re: La Floridiana, PCR #207 ---N). I've been editing Afterthought all week, and was about to call it a night. Now that I've been encouraged by you, it's back to work!I think you and Nolan and the gang are doing something wonderful with the PCR. The "regular" media seems to only care when huge productions sweep through town, which is not really too encouraging for us fledglings...you are filling a much needed void, and I truly appreciate it.
Back to work, please keep in touch!
Thank you again,
Katharine Leis
READER ON LA FLA BOOK REVIEW
Hi,
I purchased the book that contains the story about the haunted trestle in the Brandon Lithia area. I had always been led to believe the trestle remains were on the Alafia River. I was there last night taking pictures and snapped lots of orbs and one pic that has 2 large blue hazes next to a small tree.Your book is the first to mention fishhawk creek. I would love to explore this part of the legend, but your book doesn't really tell me where it's at. State Road 640 does not cross fishhawk creek. Only one road does. Is the trestle north or south of the road that crosses it?
Do you have any information on how I might find your location? Any help would be greatly appreached.
Sincerely,
Bob ClevelandWILLIAM MORIATY RESPONDS:
Thank you for your most enlightening letter and for reading our publication.
The book you are refering to is "Floridaland Ghosts" by Dylan Clearfield which I did a book review of in Issue #135 (October 21-27, 2002).
You are correct that Mr. Clearfield does not state how to reach this trestle. Nor does he mention County Road 640 (Lithia-Pinecrest Rd.). What he states is that "...Brandon... is on State Road 60..."
His article goes on to state that "the trestle was still just an ordinary bridge since train tracks had not yet been laid." That would tell me that the trestle was converted to a railroad facility. There is currently no train track crossing Fish Hawk Creek. Unless the track line in the story has been abandoned, I suspect that such an existing trestle would be in one of two locations in the Brandon/Lithia/Boyette area. It is either the CSX trestle over Turkey Creek north of Durant Road, or the CSX trestle over the Alafia River east of County Road 39 and south of Keysville Road.
These are just my own theories.
Incidentally, if your photos are digital and you are interested in sharing them with our readers you are most welcome to send them to the publisher at Crazedfanboy1@aol.com. Just be sure to please describe what the photos are of. Your name will, of course, be credited.
I hope this helps, but again, the author gave virtually no information on precisely where the trestle is located. You might want to contact the author through the book's publisher, Thunder Bay Press of Holt, Michigan at 517-694-4616.
ANDY LALINO ON MEGACON '04 AND BEYOND
Nole,
OUTSTANDING coverage of MegaCon '04 by Ed Tucker and yourself. (Thank you, sir! Andy's referring to PCR #207, last week's issue---N) I always enjoy hearing about cons I typically miss, especially by veteran Crazed Fanboys as yourselves. Being that the two of you are rooted in the '60s/'70s, you give a great perspective on the Fanboy scene. Here are some comments:
- "Cracked" was one of my favorite humor mags of the '70s. I collected it along with "Mad" and Marvel's "Crazy". Sadly, most of my collection is gone now, having sold/gave issues away when I nearly made the mistake of "growing up" in the late 1980's. My fondest memory of the magazine, (which I guess is still being published?) was Severin's artwork. Embarrassingly, I can't say I recall Dick Kulpa's name from the old days, but he's now a demigod in my eyes for publishing such a great humor mag from the equally great 1970s.
- Great pics by Nole, Joshua, Ed, and the other finger-snappers. Nole's quite the ham.
- Trivia: Billy Mumy (sorry; BILL Mumy) was a once-member of the New Wave duo Barnes & Barnes who churned out the unforgettable hit "Fish Heads", which was a staple on MTV back in the great early '80s. Seeing the video for "Fish Heads" for the first time is akin to watching the Star Destroyer fly overhead at the beginning of "Star Wars" back in '77. It changed everything. If you watch the video again today, look for Mumy in the Devo-like outfit. A young Bill Paxton starred in the video as well.
- It's so great you all got to meet the original "Lost in Space" cast. Angela Cartwright still looks good. She could have been the Gothy Christina Ricci of her time, were there such a thing as Goth in the early/mid '60s. I believe she's the sister(?) of Veronica Cartwright of "Alien" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" fame. BTW, I wouldn't get too excited over a new "Lost in Space" series; it's going to end up being a "Party of Five" set in outer space. Good science-fiction is practically a lost art nowadays.
- It was nice hearing that Florida filmmaker Katherine Leis was there at the con representing her work. I read Will's column and enjoyed it very much.
- Loved the pics of the LIS Robot (I didn't know it was called B-9) and Gort.
- I sympathize with Ed Tucker concerning the dreaded bootleggers present at most cons. It seems like there are a countless number of them, taking up space with their overpriced wares. I'll be the first to admit that I'd love to own the full series collection of "Quark", but I'm not going to pay top dollar for lousy dubs on DVD-R.
- Meeting Brad Dourif must have been a rush. Most of us have grown up with his performances, and I'm so glad he got the role as Wormtongue in LOTR - a part he truly deserved and made the most of.
- Ken Foree actually had a previous Florida appearance last November at Screamfest 2003. Incidentally, the organizers of that con are planning one for later this year, and Foree may indeed be an invited guest. I didn't get the chance to meet Mr. Foree at Screamfest, but he did look like a pleasant celebrity to meet.
- I have to scold Nolan for mentioning that actress Virginia Hey was from "Farscape" before indicating that she was the "Warrior Woman" from "The Road Warrior", as Ed Tucker rightly did. As a veteran Crazed Fanboy rooted in the '70s, I'm exercising my right to censor 'impure' references to lame Sci-Fi Channel TV shows. I'm militant; so sue me.
- Sid ("Jason of Star Command") Haig will be a celebrity guest at this year's Screamfest '04 in Ft. Lauderdale and can sometimes be spotted on Fangoria's message boards along with compadre Bill Moseley. Well, shit on my fried chicken!
- Thanks to Ed Tucker for the Virginia Hey photo/autograph scan. She just so rocks. "Farscape" is not worthy of her presence.
La Floridiana
Enjoyed Will's review of Katherine Leis' films.Also, just who does Gus Perez think he is? A Paul Naschy of the new millennium? (LOL)
Brandon's Splash Page
I read with interest Brandon's take on the recent government antics on policing the airwaves, because I wanted to get a fellow filmmaker's take on the situation, which admittedly has me very spooked. If you really think about it, kids can expose themselves to most any type of 'indecent' entertainment they want at any time. Let's be real; most (70%, I think) of all households have cable TV. Cable TV plays rated R movies and soft porn late night. Satellite radio (which, like cable, is unregulated) is a growing business, and I'm sure kids are somehow listening to Howard Stern on them. Little Johnny creeps next-door to his friend Timmy's house, and when Timmy's parents (who both have to work) are not home, they break out "Showgirls" on DVD. I mean, come on. Censoring a few tidbits of ribald entertainment is not going to make a dent in the overall situation.I'm 100% for protecting kids as much as possible from entertainment that includes foul language, nudity, drug use, or violence, and if I was assured that the FCC would limit it to the publicly-owned boob tube airwaves (as opposed to cable TV and satellite), I would sleep better at night, but such is not the case. On the Drudge Report, I've heard that FCC chairman & do-gooder Michael Powell is considering regulating cable TV (see my previous comment about most households having cable) which has me running scared, and if you're a horror/exploitation fan, it should have you running scared too. Might there come a day when the gov't says "you're no longer allowed to see such trash as 'House of 1,000 Corpses' on cable - it's 'indecent!"? Don't think it'll happen? After 20 years on the air, I never thought they'd consider pulling Howard Stern too.
I'm not a fan of "shock jocks", but Howard Stern is a true pioneer and great radio talent. Most everyone in radio, Bill O' Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity, even though they're all conservative, agree. Howard started/toned his craft in the great 1970's and early 1980's and proved to be one of the most hilarious personalities on the radio airwaves. Unlike fellow smut peddlers like Jerry Springer and Maury Povich, Stern is 100% rock & roll cool, any great Crazed Fanboy who knows true talent when they see it no doubt agrees with me. Don't treat Stern like a chump. He's not 'Todd Clem'. Howard has fought the do-gooders time and time again, and I think he'll come out on top this time around too. He makes too much money for Infinity Broadcasting for them to buckle like Clear Channel did; I'm eased by the fact they're "standing by their man". Don't get me wrong; I think if Howard does say something ribald on the public airwaves, he should be "bleeped" by time-delay, but don't yank such a funny and talented sideshow ringmaster like Howard Stern off the air because a handful of Christian daddies don't like his shtick. As my grandfather used to say: "kids don't rule the world".
If I sound like I'm Christian or Republican-bashing, I am to a degree, but I'm just as opposed, probably more so, what liberal Democrats have done over the past 17 years in their attempt to make our lexicon more politically correct. Why can't we go back to a time when we more focused on movies instead of politics, like it was the early '80s?
Here's the bottom line: I rented "I Spit on Your Grave", "Make them Die Slowly", "Malicious", and most every other type of exploitation film while I was under 18, and I didn't turn out so bad. My worst civil disobedience was a speeding ticket. Joe Bob Briggs can state the same thing, as can most any other Crazed Fanboy. Of course, detractors who truly believe music and movies cause people to commit violent acts (Bill O' Reilly), when confronted by a Crazed Fanboy like myself, will always say: "Well, I didn't mean you specifically". Well, then, who do you mean? Jeffrey Dahmer? Ted Bundy? The very fact that I've watched exploitation films my whole life and have never committed a violent act negates their very theory/assumption. Being a teen is all about sneaking off and exposing yourself to what your parents don't want you to watch or listen to. I did, and loved every minute of it. Had I spent my childhood delighting in Disney films and Mountain Family Robinson matinee movies, I surely would have turned postal.
Oh, I second your vote, Brandon. Nolan and Will for Prez/Vice Prez!
- Andy [Lalino]
To send an email to Letters to the Editor write to: Crazedfanboy1@aol.com. Any emails sent to this address will be assumed intended for publication unless you specifically instruct me not to. I can and do respond privately, if that is your preference. Frequently, it's both ways.---Nolan