The Sudden Curve

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Cartoons From The New Yorker: 2008 Day-to-Day Calendar

So Red the Rose

I mostly read science fiction, fantasy and horror, but occasionally I'll read something serious, like Stark Young's So Red the Rose, which was written in the '20s or '30s and was a bestseller in those days.

I was raised in the lower Midwest, near the Ozarks, and am descended from Scots-Irish hillbillies from Tennesee and Kentucky. I don't consider myself Northern, aka damn Yankees, but instead a combination of Midwestern and Southerner.

As far as I'm concerned, the South was overwhelmingly in the right, and too bad the North won, which only happened because they were far more industrialized than the South.

So Red the Rose is an intimate look at a bunch of Southern families during the War Between the States, and does not have the grand sweep of Gone with the Wind.

The author, Stark Young, came as to the same conclusion I have, that the conflict between North and South runs back to industrialized England marauding though Scotland and Ireland, only transplanted to the U.S. So now we have those damn Yankees in D.C. (Bush is not a Texan or cowboy; he's a Yankee) attempting to wipe out the U.S., and I see this country's salvation lying in the hands of Midwesterners and Southerners, certainly not all the nancy-boys on the East and West Coasts.

So Red the Rose is a heck of a good novel, and it should be taught in school.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who is a Scots-Irish Ozarkian hillbilly.

Cyd Charrise

Wally's post about Cyd Charisse reminded me of the first time I saw her in Singing in the Rain.

I don't like musicals and I never liked Singing in the Rain, which consisted of Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Conner dancing around with stupid grins on their faces.

That is, until Cyd showed up in short black hair, a skimpy green outfit (with greens shoes), and then proceeded to steal the scene from Kelly. I though, who is that? Where did she get that body? And those legs? And why is she blowing smoke through her nostrils?

It's the only think I liked about the entire movie.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who still has dreams about the green-skinned girl in "Star Trek."

Did You Ever Wonder...

Do birds get cancer? What about frogs? Do either have heart attacks? Are there any animals that don't get cancer, heart attacks, or have strokes?

I know cats have heart attacks, because I was once at the vet when a girl brought in a fat, dead 18-year-old cat with blood dripping from his nose. The vet said that was the classic sign of a heart attack in a cat.

What about insects? Do they get cancer? Do they even have hearts? I don't think so, at least most of them. I dissected a worm in jr. high and could hardly find anything in there. How they stayed alive was always beyond me.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who is always going "hmmm" about everything.

RIP George Carlin

posted by Tom Novak, who says, in honor of George we have busted the TSC censorship rules WIDE open!

Cyd Charisse RIP (1921-2008)

Posted by Wally Conger, who loves great legs.

R.I.P. Stan Winston

Sadly, the great sculptor and film maker Stan Winston, who's work is showcased in 2 blockbuster movies in your local theaters right now, Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull died June 15, 2008 at age 62 of natural causes following a prolonged illness.

Winston won 4 Academy Awards in a 20 years plus career as a special effects master.

posted by Tom Novak, who's donned a black endoskeleton in mourning.

Festus Missouri

Not only is there a Frankenstein, Missouri, there is also a Festus, Missouri.

It's not named after Festus Hagen, The Sudden Curve's favorite deputy, even if he was illiterate and could only look at the half-naked girls here. Too bad it wasn't named after him. I wish it was.

I have never been to Frankenstein, but I've been to Festus a few times. It's a nice little town about 12,000 people living south of St. Louis. I used to know a chubby little blonde girl what lived there.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who'd rather be Festus than Matt.

Did You Ever Wonder...

If "vaporize" means to turn into vapor, what does "pulverize" mean? It's one of those things that makes me go, Hmmm.

Posted by Bob Wallace, who always thought Ensign Pulver was a weird name.