11,887 stories by "Trav S.d."
Something fitting about Dario Fo and Pierre Etaix passing away within hours of each other. French clown, actor and comedy film-maker Etaix (1928-2016) was one of the happy discoveries I lear…
Today is the birthday of funny looking comic character actor Jimmy Conlin (1884-1962). Originally from Camden, NJ, Conlin studied piano at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music in his youth…
Continuing their month long tribute to the classic horror genre for the Halloween season, tonight Turner Classic Movies presents several horror and mystery comedies: 8:00pm (EST): The Cat an…
Yesterday, I happened to be rehearsing our new W.C. Fields show in the Chelsea area, which put me near the galleries! Having many errands to do, I managed to pop in and out of these arts spa…
In the words of Dr. Frankenstein, “IT’S ALIVE!!!” Â Yes, my first book is going stronger than ever, in fact, if anything its reach as a point of cultural reference seems …
Continuing on with our series of posts for Halloween horror month. This one has been germinating for a while. I have a great deal of admiration for the work of director-producer John Landis,…
Continuing our month-long series of Halloween Horror posts, this one a look at the career of the great William Henry Pratt, better known as Boris Karloff. The survey below is at best a parti…
Tonight on TCM: more Frankenstein sequels, with value added: 8:00pm (EST): The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) Oh yes, the ghost of Dr Frankenstein does appear in this film, although it is a…
A few nights back we went to the book launch event for friend Sarah Porter‘s new YA novel Vassa in the Night at Books of Wonder.  We found her previous Lost Voices trilogy to …
In celebration of the Halloween season, a couple of vintage children’s book illustrations by my first cousin twice removed Harrison Cady: Filed under: Halloween, HOLIDAYS/ FESTIVALS/ M…
Filed under: Contemporary Variety, PLUGS, Singers, Singing Comediennes, Vaudeville etc., Women Tagged: Duplex, Granny's Blue-Mers, Reverend Mary, Vintage Bawdy Blues
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Contemporary Variety, Jazz (miscellaneous), PLUGS Tagged: Aldo Perez, Glen Heroy, Jazz Bastards, Jenny Lee Mitchell, Pete's Candy Store, Williamsburg
Continuing with our Halloween month series of classic horror posts, today a survey of the horror films of RKO producer Val Lewton. Lewton is an interesting transitional figure, generally pra…
As always, TCM is bringing much classic horror to the table all throughout October this month in celebration of Halloween. This is what’s on the menu tonight and into tomorrow: 8:00pm …
Today is the birthday of Laura Augusta “Janet” Gaynor (1906-1984) — no relation to Mitzi or Gloria. Gaynor’s career straddled the late silent and early talking cinema…
Continuing our month long series of Halloween Horror posts, today we take a look at the subgenre now informally known as “psycho-biddy”, or sometimes, less succinctly as “G…
Filed under: FOOD & DRINK CULTURE, PLUGS, SOCIAL EVENTS Tagged: Absinthe, Green Fairy, KGB, Red Room, tasting
Continuing on with this month’s contributions to our horror exloration, a look at the films of William Castle. Castle had been a director at Columbia since 1943, but though he’d …
In preparation for the lead up to the Halloween season  (and spurred on by the fact that I have learned I am related to him, and also by recent walking tours I’ve taken with Rory Ra…
Filed under: Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), Indie Theatre, Saloons Tagged: festival, Frigid NY, H.P. Lovecraft, Horse Trade, Kraine, radio, radiotheatre
Filed under: BROOKLYN, Coney Island, Dime Museum and Side Show, Halloween, Horror (Mostly Gothic), PLUGS Tagged: BROOKLYN, Coney Island USA, Creepshow, Dick Zigun, Dirty Work at the Waxworks…
I can’t plug this exciting new venture enough. More evidence of the revolutionary times we live in, and an example of one of its most positive manifestations: the democratization of ac…
Tomorrow, in celebration of Buster Keaton’s birthday, starting in the early morning TCM will be showing a selection of films by the comedy master. It is an interesting selection, compr…
I came across the photo below on ebay about eight months ago, and I’ve been saving it up ever since then for Halloween month. It cleared up a riddle I’d stored in the back of my …
Originally posted on Fairweather Lewis: Stukeley Tillinghast, so the story goes, was a prosperous Rhode Island farmer around the time of the Revolutionary War. He and his beloved wife were t…
