#sf43 Loopers and Thon Wrap up

     Loopers was a good way to end the Thon, with the promise of a better personal, and broader, future. I kinda liked Joe’s pocket watch, seen above, which plays a couple roles. The schedule slipped a bit, as it often does, and we had lots of good stuff to watch this year. Garen seemed to think there were more folks still around at the end, though it felt a little lighter to me. It certainly seemed like a happier crowd.

     As far as a post mortem, mostly for future me, I felt pretty good through out, and particularly by the end. I find that my eating habits and food choices make a big difference in how I feel. Early on I felt the urge to eat more, and that took some focus to keep in check. I was surprised to find that I ate almost 2 full cans of Pringles, when I usually have trouble finishing one without upsetting my stomach. I had one swiss cheese sandwich and one honey and peanut butter sandwich, a plum, a nectarine, some carrots, lots of grapes, almonds, a bag of Beer Nuts, two Naked juices, a Nantucket Nectar, and a little Coke, spreadout over 25+ hours. That doesn’t count the tofu pad thai I had for dinner. I forgot a few things, like my Apple Watch charger, Coke, which I bought and forgot to pack, and some smaller nalgene bottles of water. I had 2 large Nalgene bottles of water, and I didn’t end up using them, so 2 small ones are likely fine, particularly since they add a lot of weight.

     Again this year I bought tickets for Alexei and I for next year’s Thon, and hoping my new posting a selfie of Alexei and I with our tickets will make sure we bring them with us. Getting there early, even for a better place in line,.is important. There was someone looking for five seats together and shifted down a row upon seeing my interest in the area. As has happened before, they can run out of manila envelope of goodies, and even atomic fireballs before the countdown even. And while we balcony dwellers may be second class citizens from the perspective of interaction with those on the stage, photographers, questions, etc, I still prefer the extra space.

     I think that wraps it up for now, particularly as I’m tired, and usually forget to do a post mortem in past years. Even though I may be spacey, I am looking forward to next year. See you then, Thonners. ^_^

#sf43 20 Million Miles to Earth

     Another 50s B movie that tries to portray man as not so bad to aliens, and fails. Ray Harryhausen special effects were great as usual. Paul Drake from Perry Mason was good too. Now it’s time for thank yous to the various people who make this fabulous event.

#sf43 Army of Darkness

     A wickedly funny campy cult classic. Should be on every SF fans must see list. Our hero, Bruce Campbell, just before he makes a name for himself, and the girl he gets, loses, gets again, and leaves behind. A nice way to start waking up in the morning.

#sf43 The Yellow Submarine

     This was a surprise, though in my tired state a bit hard to stay awake with. Alexei slept through it, though he didn’t know it until I woke him for our next movie, Army of Darkness.

#sf43 Little Shop of Horrors

     Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. And it happened now. Getting tired, I forgot to take a pic during The Little Shop of Horrors. So you get a picture of the folks leading us in singing Flying Purple People Eater. You can see Adria on the right end if the stage, and lower righter from her you may be able to make out the stars of our blast off toon, Duck Dodgers, and his side kick.

     And now for the unannounced special, which isn’t even in my previous post list, The Yellow Submarine. Who’ld have thought. ^_^

#sf43 World Without End

     Our heros, after some sort of super high speed timeshift in their trip back from a couple of orbits around Mars, end up on Earth in 2508. Here they are still checking out the planet before confirming it is Earth. Unlike the other film at this Thon than Rod Taylor was in, this has the good guys underground, and the bad mutants on the surface. An enjoyable 50s B movie. Steve left after this movie, and Alexei is off for a nap.

#sf43 Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

     Rod Serling and one of at least 2 appearances of William Shatner. That gremlin doesn’t look very aerodynamic. ^_^

#sf43 Night of the Living Dead

     The one that started it all, George Romeo’s original zombie movie. Beyond the grotesqueness for the time, it had social commentary as well. In the pic is the first, and rather spritely, zombie of the movie, noticing some zombie pals approaching. Spoiler alert, nobody survives.

     Woohoo, our Twilight Zone is the classic gremlin episode with William Shatner. Sweet. ^_^

#sf43 Shivers

     Here is a pic of the guy who started it all, in this sex party horror flick. I took several pics, and realized afterwards, when planning this post that my other pics might be considered R-rated, so I decided to go with this one.

     Now we’re listening to Jonathan Coulton’s All We Want to do is Eat Your Brains, as we wait for Night of the Living Dead.

#sf43 The Bride of Frankenstein

     Both the Monster and his bride to be. What a hoot. And I noticed a couple actors from a favorite of mine, The Court Jester. And of course doors. Ken may be heading out soon. And I am sitting under a vent, which occassionaly blows cool air on me. I don’t recall this happening before, and this is my regular seat. ^_^

#sf43 Marjorie Prime

     This was an interesting film. The pic is the movie’s namesake, where a prime is a holographic version of a deceased person. Reminds me of the first Twilight Zone episode, which we watched last night, which touched on the need of humans to have the company if other humans.

     Next up, The Bride of Frankenstein, with Boris Karloff. ^_^

#sf43 sf44 tickets

     We made it back in time to catch the climactic lava and dinosaurs scene in the silent movie, as well as a brontosaurus rampaging through London. Jeff Rapsis, the silent movie accompianist, let us know about upcoming silent films being shown here at the Somerville Theater. Garen announced SF44 tickets are now on sale, after Steve told me he bought his. I hustled down to get our tickets for next year. The line ended up a bit slow, so I missed a bit of the next movie. Got my tickets though. ^_^

#sf43 Out to Dinner

     While the silent film played, with excellent accompaniament, we took a walk to find dinner. Like herding cats, no one would commit to where they wanted to go. The Diva indian restaurant we have gone to in past years was ominously taped and locked up. We did find another indian place, though it was reserved for a private party. We passed many possibilities, ultimately stopping at Palm Sugar Thai. It was very good, as you can see from our empty plates and satisfied faces.

     While there I realized I forgot to pack my mini Coke bottles, so I’ll have to pick some up on the way back to the theatre. Or miss some night time shows. ^_^

#sf43 Sinbad

     Well what do you know, Sinbad did have a door, protected by this dragon. Ray’s special effects were pretty cool for their day, and a lot of fun for Thon attendees. The crowd this year seems more energetic and enthusiastic, which makes the event even more enjoyable. We just had a couple of visitors involved with some of the films from the broader Boston Science Fiction Film Festival. Next up is a silent film, though not Algol as listed due to a wrong key, and it on loan from a german museum not open on Saturday to send a new key. We will go out for dinner during the silent movie, after the Gort short Haley. ^_^

#sf43 The Time Machine

     One of my favorite classic sci fi movies, this version of H.G. Wells classic story was the first version I saw. And it was a great opportunity for the newest ritual. I noted in a previous post this year about a scientist and his fixation with open doors. That seems to be the new favorite of this year’s crowd, and there were plenty of opportunities in this movie and Close Encounters.

     That said, it may be less likely during this next movie, the 7th Voyage of Sinbad, a classic of Ray Harryhausen special effects. After the In Memorium, which always surprises me with how many famous we have lost, we had Adria and 2 others lead us in the song, Purple People Eater. Timing the cards for the audience to sing along made for comic relief, and we all had fun. ^_^

#sf43 Close Encounters of the Third Kind

     Our heroes do their best to avoid the US Army troops, as they make their way to the Devil’s Tower. As is usually the case, the book has more detail. I still like the movie. Anyone can go to space. ^_^ And now H.G. Wells The Time Machine.

#sf43 Blastoff

     Duck Dodgers in the Twenty Fourth and a Half Century starts us off. Ken made it just as it started. Hurray. ^_^

#sf43 Answers and Questions

     Huh? Here is the printed program, with times and additional fun activities. If you read my post from yesterday on the order of movies, you would recall I noted that Close Encounters was missing, and Army of Darkness was added. Now I see that Close Encounters is the first film, so much for my note of starting and ending with time travel :-), and on a following page of the program not shown in my pic, Army of Darkness is scheduled for 7:35am. Guess you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet.

     Further investigation shows that the order is the same, with Close Encounters added at the start. Nice. Garen just announced that In Memorium is about to start, a tribute to those in SF we lost since the last Thon. Steve arrived a few minutes ago, and needed to answer natures call. The curtain rises and we get a duck and cover PSA cartoon from the 50s by the Civil Defense. ^_^

#sf43 A New Habit

     This year I deliberately took a selfie of Alexei and me at home with our tickets. While I have done this on occasion in the past, I decided this year to make it a habit. Not only is it a nice chronicling of the day, it also serves to make sure we have our tickets with us before we leave. Heh ^_^

#sf43 We’re here

     Despite the early and heavy snow last night, the roads are fine this morning. Snow is dropping off the trees onto us as we stand in line to be let in. The temps are around freezing, so not bad compared with previous years. Wow, someone just started a Wheat Chex/Rice Chex match in line. Lots of positive energy here this morning. ^_^

#sf43 pre-history

     OK, I posted about the unannounced special instead of the history of my blogging of the Boston Science Fiction Marathon. So now, while it of course, snows the night before the Thon, I will do my history post. The picture above is of my brother-in-law and friends, waiting to be let in to the Coolidge Corner Theater for the Thon . He is the one who introduced me to the Thon in the mid 90s, and I went with him for a few years. Then my first son came along, and my family needed me.

     Eventually my son got old enough to enjoy the Thon, and I came back. It’s been 10 years in a row now, or will be tomorrow. It wasn’t long after the Dot Com boom that I started blogging, and in 2008, SF33, I started blogging about and at the Boston Science Fiction Marathon. I’ve gathered links to the first 2 years of posts, and 8 years of links to my February Archives, which are mostly about the Thon. As the years have gone on, I’ve posted more often at the Thon, so listing individual links is more work. Let me know if you enjoy this trip into the Thon past. ^_^

Yearly links
Feb 2018 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2018/02/
Feb 2017 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2017/02/
Feb 2016 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2016/02/
Feb 2015 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2015/02/
Feb 2014 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2014/02/
Feb 2013 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2013/02/
Feb 2012 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2012/02/
Feb 2011 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2011/02/
Feb 2010 – https://drag0nfly.wordpress.com/2010/02/

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/entry/sf34_settling_in

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/entry/sf34_live_we_re_off

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/entry/sf34_live_update_2

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/entry/sf34_live_past_halfway

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/entry/sf34_live

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/sf33-live-3

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/sf33-live-2

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/sf33-live

https://blogs.oracle.com/dragonfly/boston-science-fiction-marathon

#sf43 Unannounced Special

     In the last 9 years in a row that I have attended the Thon, they have not had an unannounced special, so I don’t know what to expect. They may have done this in the past, maybe even the few years I went some twenty odd years ago, as I didn’t pay much attention when I went then, and no attention when I didn’t go. 🙂

     So, when do they announce it? Just before showing, keeping their options open, particularly if they have several possibilities in the works? Or will it be on the printed schedule they hand out as we arrive? However it happens, there are some fine choices from the specified year of 1968. Here are some of those possibilities. My money is on 2001. ^_^


2001 : A Space Odyssey

Planet of the Apes

Barbarella

Night of the Living Dead (already in the lineup)

Charly

Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women

Destroy all Monsters

The Power

The Astro Zombies

Thunderbird 6

Project X

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang



#sf43 Order

     The lineup for the Thon came out on Monday, and now we have the order. I’m a little surprised, and maybe disappointed, that it appears the one movie they announced months ago, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, has been replaced by Army of Darkness. Oddly, I have not see all of Army of Darkness before, so I’m cool with that. It’s just that it’s been a while since I’ve seen Close Encounters, and I thought it would be good for my son to see it in a theater. Ah well, these things happen, usually to some degree every year.

     Without further ado, here is the schedule, starting and ending with time travel. ^_^

Marathon Schedule
(in order)

The Time Machine
7th Voyage of Sinbad
Silent Film w/Jeff Rapsis
Marjorie Prime
Bride of Frankenstein
Shivers aka The Came from Within
Night of the Living Dead
World Without End
Little Shop of Horrors
unannounced special
Army of Darkness
20 Million Miles to Earth
Looper

#sf43 Thon Rituals

With the 43rd Boston Science Fiction Marathon (BSFM or SF43) a couple days away, I thought I would review some of the rituals that make the Thon fun and unique. I’ve posted these before, though that was years ago now. Sometimes they get mentioned at the Thon, though not always. Keep these in mind if you want to appreciate the nuances like an old timer.

1) Mark – during movies, whenever someone says ‘mark’, as the name or action, the audience says ‘mark’ loudly as well. Sorry, I don’t currently know the history on any of these.

2) Ray Guns – a popular accutrement for any sci-fi outing, and even more so for this event, as you’ll see in the next item. They have been selling some cool ones last year and this year. Maybe a Ray gun action shot is in order. 🙂

3) Fire – Whenever ‘fire’ is said during a movie, again as a verb or noun, anyone with a ray gun shoots it.

4) Rice Chex/Wheat Chex – At audience inspired moments through out the event, though rarely during movies, someone will yell either Rice Chex or Wheat Chex. What ensues is a ‘tastes great/less filling’ style shouting match by the audience, with each half of the theatre usually taking a different side, as they shout Rice Chex then Wheat Chex.

5) Single clap per name – This one involves the beginning, and sometimes ending credits. As names appear on the screen, the goal is to clap once for each name currently on the screen. No more and no less. Can be tricky at times, particularly with companies named after their owner.

There have been a couple times that a potential new ritual emerged for a single Thon in the last few years, though nothing has stuck. The last time Brainstorm was shown, the tit for tat between Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood of “You go to hell” and “No you go to hell” had potential, as it kept popping up through the rest of that Thon. It still can be heard occassionaly at Thons since then. There was also a year with an old movie with a scientist who kept yelling to close the door, though that wasn’t quite as popular. I think my next post will be on my Thon blogging history. I might even dig up a picture from 20+ years ago at the Coolidge. ^_^

#sf43 The Thon Lineup

     Ha, Murphy’s Law in action. Or something like that. In my earlier post today, I lamented not knowing what movies were planned for this yeat’s Thon. And what should arrive in this afternoon’s email but the lineup. And here it is. Now I’m really getting excited.

Sneak Peak! Final MARATHON Lineup

ALGOL (1920) Music by Jeff Rapsis. German Expressionism. Oscar winner Emil Jannings

SHIVERS, They Came from Within. (1975) The scourge of SF3 returns!

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) 50th Anniversary! The seminal zombie film!

WORLD WITH OUT END (1956) Mars astronauts return & mutants are ruling. Trump?

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND (1977) Tones are playing in your brain.

LOOPER (2012) Before Last Jedi Rian Johnsnon got all time travel-y

20 MILLION MILES FROM EARTH (1957) A Harryhausen SFX extravaganza!

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) Just a boy & a girl way before #MeToo

MARJORIE PRIME (2017) Are memoires or holograms enough?

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) Classic. Great support – Nicholson, Dick Miller

7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958) OK fantasy, not SciFi, but still Harryhausen.

THE TIME MACHINE (1960) Based on HG Wells’ tale with Rod Taylor & the Elois

UNANNOUNCED SPECIAL (1968)

Selected shorts & cartoons

Plus ZOMBIE Dress Up Contest. Winner wins a McKinnons Meat Market Gift Certificate. Isn’t that fun? ^_^