Mystery Science Theater 3000

I recently got into the early 90s programme, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST 3K). It's a sci-fi comedy show revolving around Joel Robinson and, later Mike Nelson, who is held captive in space on the Satellite of Love by Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank, so that they can experiment on him and eventually drive him insane by forcing him to watch bad movies. Joel/Mike "riffs" on the movie, with the help of his robot friends, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo. There's also Gypsy, who controls the satellite's piloting system, and CamBot, who records the crew "riffing" on the movie and communicating with Dr Forrester and TV's Frank.

It's rather metafictional, with many references to the show itself and how bad the show is. The movies are always spectacularly awful, only made better by the crew making fun of them. The show doesn't take itself seriously with the theme song saying "if you're wondering how he eats and breaths, and other science facts, repeat to yourself it's just a show, I should really just relax..."

I can't really explain why I love it so much. Perhaps it's the fact that the characters are so funny, and the fact that I love really bad movies. I also like the fact that the show had a really low budget for seasons 1-5, and even though they had an increasing budget, they kept the bric-a-brac motif of the sets, reminding themselves that they used to be a "cow- town puppet show". Fans of the show call themselves MSTies, and I now consider myself one.

Some DVDs I bought recently

Yes, it's that time of the month (No, not in that way), when I reveal what I've recently bought.

Blade Runner 5-Disc Special Collector's Tin - £6 from HMV

Sinking of Japan - £5 HMV

King Kong classic 4 DVD collection, contains King Kong 1933, King Kong Colourised, King Kong Escapes and King Kong vs. Godzilla - £5.99 Amazon

Clutch Cargo Vol. 1 - £3 Alpha Video (oldies.com)

Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Complete Third Series - £10 HMV

Planet of the Apes Special Edition 6-Disc Set - £6 HMV

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark - £4 Tesco

Terminator Salvation T-600 Limited Edition - £8 HMV

Ed Wood - £5 HMV

Big Fat Important Movie (An American Carol) - £3 HMV

The Breakfast Club & Weird Science boxset - £5 Morrisons

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - £5 HMV

Wacky Races Vol. 1 - £5 HMV


As you can see, I do buy a lot of DVDs. However, I do have a lot of spare time on my hands, and as a film student I feel the need to be update on the current films and have contextual knowledge around the main syllabus. Also, I have too much spare money.

Blog Name Change

Yes, I thought it was time for a bit of a change. It's now called "Geek Thoughts", and the web address is http://www.johnquig.blogspot.com

Not much else to say at the moment. Bye. 

Time Travel

Wouldn't Time Travel be amazing? Not that crappy Quantum Leap time travel either, I'm talking Doctor Who and Back to the Future. Oh yeah.

The big question is, however, Where would I go and who would I meet? Interesting...

Well, of course there's Guy Fawkes, The 1914 football game between the Allies and Germany, but... then I could always...

a) Meet Ed D. Wood Jr
The king of kitsch, Ed Wood directed some of the cheesiest, campiest movies ever made. Plan 9 from Outer Space and Glen or Glenda, to name a few. It'd be amazing for a geek like me to meet someone like that, just to see how his mind worked. To save money on his films he used friends to fill the spaces of actors, and effects in Plan 9 were almost non-existent -- a ball with paper plates was used for a flying saucer-- he could show the directors nowadays a thing or two.

b) Meet Shakespeare
Just so that I could ask him why he has to make his plays so confusing for GCSE/AS Students. Nothing against Shakespeare, he's a legend of literature, he just is a figure of hate for so many.

c) Go to 1885
For obvious reasons.

d) See what the 80s were like.
and, if John Hughes films and Back to the Future are anything to go by, they were amazing. Specifically, 1984 - There was Thriller, Band Aid, Duran Duran, Sixteen Candles and DYNASTY!

e) Visit Roswell, New Mexico in June/July, 1947
Just to see if it was actually an Alien. We all know the U.S. Government are covering up, I'd put a £100 bet on it.


So, there you go, a few reasons I would like to Time Travel. Of course, it should be noted that allowing me to Time Travel would be almost as foolish as letting George Bush have control of nuclear weapons-- oh, wait, we did that? I'd probably end up either tearing a hole in the Space Time Continuum, or cause my own Grandfather Paradox.

I'm back baby!

Yes, that's right, I'm back to bring meaning to your life. Truth be told, I forgot about this blog and that's why I've not been posting. But, now that I'm back, with good grammar, I've got plenty I want to rant about Including:

Twilight
Glee
X-Factor
Topman

So, make sure you check back often for my musings and rants, I'll be updating regularly.

Rod Serling

You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!

A former boxer, paratrooper and general all-around angry young man, Rod Serling was one of the radical new voices that made the "Golden Age" of television. Long before "The Twilight Zone" (1959), he was known for writing such high-quality scripts as "Patterns" and "Requiem for a Heavyweight", both later turned into films (Patterns (1956) and Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)). Even "The Twilight Zone" featured forays into controversial grounds like racism, Cold War paranoia and the horrors of war. His maverick attitude eventually drove him from regular network television.

He died on June 28th 1975 of a heart attack aged 50

Motivations

I really don't know why I decided to write a blog. I guess it was the fact that somebody might actually care about my thoughts or even take the time to read them.

Another motivation seems to be the idea that I can waffle on about nothing and nobody is stopping me! How cool is that?!? I'm doing it now aren't I? I don't know who i'm talking to.


Anyway the moral of the story is: Blogs are great because you can talk about what you want!