https://noiralley.tcm.com/?icid=espnav8-noir-alley

On Tuesday, August 29, 2023 at 11:21:32 PM UTC-4, bozo de niro wrote:
> https://noiralley.tcm.com/?icid=espnav8-noir-alley

Bozo, I had TCM for years and they took it to a higher tier and
I lived without it for the last 5 years. Then the other week it
suddenly reappeared. And I know why. The station is showing
a lot of trending crap - stuff that is trending just because the
media says so. There is also a host for everything now. And
that wine club makes me sick, people sitting around talking about
what kind of wine to drink while watching Casablanca or whatever.
Fortunately for me I saw most of these films when I was in my
teens, long before Robert Osborne hopped aboard as some kind
of expert. The channel still shows some old stuff but rarely an
decent new stuff. There is good stuff from all eras, but I do
believe quality has dropped big time in movies. But when they
show something from today it is only because it's politically or
socially 'relevant', not because it's a good movie. There are
some good modern movies. For me modern means anything
made during and after the 50s. But the good recent ones (which
are pretty damn rare) I never see them on TCM, probably because
they are not considered politically or socially relevant. Also, the
Eddie Mueller guy and his Noir Alley show - I may like some of the
movies, but he tosses around the term 'noir' too generously for me
This sort of watered down presenting is to be expected when
people like Mueller and his cohorts oversell and under deliver.
Lots of stuff that I don't see at all as noir is included in Mueller's
album of trash. God, I loved jumping on Mueller just now. What
a blast. Thanks Bozo.

On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 11:55:50 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
<jazeev1234@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Tuesday, August 29, 2023 at 11:21:32?PM UTC-4, bozo de niro wrote:
>> https://noiralley.tcm.com/?icid=espnav8-noir-alley
>
>
>Bozo, I had TCM for years and they took it to a higher tier and
>I lived without it for the last 5 years. Then the other week it
>suddenly reappeared. And I know why. The station is showing
>a lot of trending crap - stuff that is trending just because the
>media says so. There is also a host for everything now. And
>that wine club makes me sick, people sitting around talking about
>what kind of wine to drink while watching Casablanca or whatever.
>Fortunately for me I saw most of these films when I was in my
>teens, long before Robert Osborne hopped aboard as some kind
>of expert. The channel still shows some old stuff but rarely an
>decent new stuff. There is good stuff from all eras, but I do
>believe quality has dropped big time in movies. But when they
>show something from today it is only because it's politically or
>socially 'relevant', not because it's a good movie. There are
>some good modern movies. For me modern means anything
>made during and after the 50s. But the good recent ones (which
>are pretty damn rare) I never see them on TCM, probably because
>they are not considered politically or socially relevant. Also, the
>Eddie Mueller guy and his Noir Alley show - I may like some of the
>movies, but he tosses around the term 'noir' too generously for me
>This sort of watered down presenting is to be expected when
>people like Mueller and his cohorts oversell and under deliver.
>Lots of stuff that I don't see at all as noir is included in Mueller's
>album of trash. God, I loved jumping on Mueller just now. What
>a blast. Thanks Bozo.

Commercial free. Ted Turner or his organization picks up the tab, and
the wine sales are assisting revenues - and again without commercials.

I was annoyed when AMC switched their format years ago and began
airing commercials.

I find it difficult to turn to any channel except TCM and not get a
commercial. They are airing about every four mininutes now. The
Nework News programs has them every minute.

I guess there are those who love commercials. They bore me.

I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
get in the way either.

I would never gravitate to a channel just because it has less
commercials. I know it has its own commercials and they
don't take a lot of time, but in some way are even more pushy
than traditional commercials. No different from the TV
news reporters who refer to themselves as our "First Informers"
and present themselves as bigger stars than the news itself.
I guess one way or another we all pay for what we get. Some
kind of commercial attached to everything. I knew a guy who
claimed to hate them. He was at my place and a girl was with
me. I could tell he was trying to impress her by talking about
how much he hated commercials, and his face lit up when she
said she hated them too. I had the TV on. Pre remote days, at
least for me. The guy would get up and turn off the sound every
single time a commercial came on. His up and down sensitivity
act was far more irritating to me than the worst commercial of
all time. I am no fan either but I'm pretty good at letting them just
pass through my empty head. Sometimes I even enjoy them in
some way, not necessarily the same way each time. But then
sometimes if they've gone on for a really long time and I've
been pretty cool about it - not bothered in the least - suddenly
I'll just explode, "Oh for Christ's sake now, enough is enough
already!" Funny stuff.

On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:25:57 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
<jazeev1234@gmail.com> wrote:

>I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
>a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
>and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
>Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
>guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
>get in the way either. \

John Zacherle, WCAU-TV Channel 10. "Shock Theater". Know it well,"My
Dear". Strange though: I remember the show very well. He had a beast
in an underground cave whom you never saw called "Thing". See if you
can find a reference to this. Seems to have disappeared.

On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 5:26:17 PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:25:57 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
> >a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
> >and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
> >Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
> >guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
> >get in the way either. \
>
> John Zacherle, WCAU-TV Channel 10. "Shock Theater". Know it well,"My
> Dear". Strange though: I remember the show very well. He had a beast
> in an underground cave whom you never saw called "Thing". See if you
> can find a reference to this. Seems to have disappeared.

I checked him out on the web a year or so ago. John Zacherle He was
a pioneer of the shock theatre TV genre, among others. Of course maybe
it was just the right time. I was a kid. I liked his act. I liked the victim in
his underground cave, the way he talked to it. It's like if you have only one
victim chained up in your basement you want to be careful not to go too
far and ruin a good thing. That's the art of torture - how far can you take
your goof without losing him for good? I have my own torture humor bit
where I talk philosophy and world affairs with my 'goof', knowing that no matter
what I say, no matter how vile and disturbing, every moment of me talking to him
is treasured because it means he is not being outright tortured I'm glad you
remember the show. I was a fan. If I saw it today I'm not sure how I'd feel.
I saw small clips on some of the sites I visited, but my visits were short because
I'm an impatient guy and Roland is from the past, and that's cool - but I'm from the
future, daddy, and I'm moving on!

I'll check it out, I remember one site mentioning his lifetime torture slave,
but it didn't go too far into it. I don't think I'll find anything you couldn't.

On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:23:19 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
<jazeev1234@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 5:26:17?PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
>> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:25:57 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
>> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
>> >a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
>> >and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
>> >Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
>> >guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
>> >get in the way either. \
>>
>> John Zacherle, WCAU-TV Channel 10. "Shock Theater". Know it well,"My
>> Dear". Strange though: I remember the show very well. He had a beast
>> in an underground cave whom you never saw called "Thing". See if you
>> can find a reference to this. Seems to have disappeared.
>
>
>I checked him out on the web a year or so ago. John Zacherle He was
>a pioneer of the shock theatre TV genre, among others. Of course maybe
>it was just the right time. I was a kid. I liked his act. I liked the victim in
>his underground cave, the way he talked to it. It's like if you have only one
>victim chained up in your basement you want to be careful not to go too
>far and ruin a good thing. That's the art of torture - how far can you take
>your goof without losing him for good? I have my own torture humor bit
>where I talk philosophy and world affairs with my 'goof', knowing that no matter
>what I say, no matter how vile and disturbing, every moment of me talking to him
>is treasured because it means he is not being outright tortured I'm glad you
>remember the show. I was a fan. If I saw it today I'm not sure how I'd feel.
>I saw small clips on some of the sites I visited, but my visits were short because
>I'm an impatient guy and Roland is from the past, and that's cool - but I'm from the
>future, daddy, and I'm moving on!
>
>I'll check it out, I remember one site mentioning his lifetime torture slave,
>but it didn't go too far into it. I don't think I'll find anything you couldn't.

I never thought of the torture thing. It was great humor with some
excellent horror films.

No, he was great. He would splice shots of himself doing silly things
into the films that he would show. They were high points in his show.

Too bad YouTube ignores him completely. There must be some examples
somewhere.

I think our 11:00 pm news lasted twenty minutes with John Facenda.
Then Shock Theater would start at 11:20 pm.

On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 9:33:36 PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:23:19 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 5:26:17?PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
> >> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:25:57 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
> >> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> >I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
> >> >a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
> >> >and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
> >> >Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
> >> >guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
> >> >get in the way either. \
> >>
> >> John Zacherle, WCAU-TV Channel 10. "Shock Theater". Know it well,"My
> >> Dear". Strange though: I remember the show very well. He had a beast
> >> in an underground cave whom you never saw called "Thing". See if you
> >> can find a reference to this. Seems to have disappeared.
> >
> >
> >I checked him out on the web a year or so ago. John Zacherle He was
> >a pioneer of the shock theatre TV genre, among others. Of course maybe
> >it was just the right time. I was a kid. I liked his act. I liked the victim in
> >his underground cave, the way he talked to it. It's like if you have only one
> >victim chained up in your basement you want to be careful not to go too
> >far and ruin a good thing. That's the art of torture - how far can you take
> >your goof without losing him for good? I have my own torture humor bit
> >where I talk philosophy and world affairs with my 'goof', knowing that no matter
> >what I say, no matter how vile and disturbing, every moment of me talking to him
> >is treasured because it means he is not being outright tortured I'm glad you
> >remember the show. I was a fan. If I saw it today I'm not sure how I'd feel.
> >I saw small clips on some of the sites I visited, but my visits were short because
> >I'm an impatient guy and Roland is from the past, and that's cool - but I'm from the
> >future, daddy, and I'm moving on!
> >
> >I'll check it out, I remember one site mentioning his lifetime torture slave,
> >but it didn't go too far into it. I don't think I'll find anything you couldn't.
> I never thought of the torture thing. It was great humor with some
> excellent horror films.
>
> No, he was great. He would splice shots of himself doing silly things
> into the films that he would show. They were high points in his show.
>
> Too bad YouTube ignores him completely. There must be some examples
> somewhere.
>
> I think our 11:00 pm news lasted twenty minutes with John Facenda.
> Then Shock Theater would start at 11:20 pm.

While I was influenced to some extent by the guy - I was about 11 at the
time - I believe my torture routine is way more advanced and funny. For
example, when my goof whimpers I'll ask him, "What is the problem now
goof?", and he'll say, "It's the pain, Sir - my eyes, they're still swollen up
from yesterday." And I say, "Ok come on now, let me see those eyes",
followed by, "Wow, they are swollen up - about triple normal size." Whimpering
in the background. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to pop them with
a rubber band." The goof yells, "No no", to which I respond, "Shut up" before
turning to my invisible servant Johnny and asking him to please go into
drawer #2 and getting me an industrial size rubber band, 2 inch gauge.
Then as the goof whimpers (I supply all voices), I narrate what's coming
down. "Ok, now we pull back the band (whimpering) - as far as it will go -
all the way back, like William Tell and his bow and arrow - all the way back,
and then - RE-LEASE", followed by a sucking/slapping sound and a wild
scream from the goof with me quickly adding, "And now the other eye."
He moans again to which I reply, "We must balance them out", as I quickly
pop the other eye with the same howling results followed by, "Balance. We
MUST have balance." But it's not all torture, not by a long shot. My philosophies
are lectured to my goof regularly. When he moans too much I tell him there
are plenty of people in the world who have it worst, mentioning examples as
'proof'. He agrees. He knows he has to. Oh, once he tried to bluff me by
pretending not to care, as if he were above it all. But we quickly nixed that
little ruse.

We must have balance!

Also, I love the concept of a torturer falling in love with his victim and
wanting to release him. Not traditional love, something even deeper.
But he knows he can never release him, he'll go to the cops or come
back seeking revenge in some way. The torturer really wants to let the
guy go but he knows he can't. What a catch 22. A sad state of affairs
for the poor torturer.

Also, bringing in another victim to a nearby table, then leaving the room.
The new guy says he's been here before and he knows a way out. He says
he has a key. Everything is hush hush as he unlocks his own cuffs then
those of the other goof. Then he leads him down a long hallway with a
door at the end. "There it is", the new guy says, "the door to freedom."
When he opens it the torturer is standing on the other side with his arm
held out to block exit as both he and the newest victim who is in reality
one of his assistants break into wild laughter with the disheartened almost
free victim returned once again to the room of despair.

On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:57:42 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
<jazeev1234@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 9:33:36?PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
>> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:23:19 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
>> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 5:26:17?PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
>> >> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:25:57 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
>> >> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
>> >> >a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
>> >> >and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
>> >> >Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
>> >> >guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
>> >> >get in the way either. \
>> >>
>> >> John Zacherle, WCAU-TV Channel 10. "Shock Theater". Know it well,"My
>> >> Dear". Strange though: I remember the show very well. He had a beast
>> >> in an underground cave whom you never saw called "Thing". See if you
>> >> can find a reference to this. Seems to have disappeared.
>> >
>> >
>> >I checked him out on the web a year or so ago. John Zacherle He was
>> >a pioneer of the shock theatre TV genre, among others. Of course maybe
>> >it was just the right time. I was a kid. I liked his act. I liked the victim in
>> >his underground cave, the way he talked to it. It's like if you have only one
>> >victim chained up in your basement you want to be careful not to go too
>> >far and ruin a good thing. That's the art of torture - how far can you take
>> >your goof without losing him for good? I have my own torture humor bit
>> >where I talk philosophy and world affairs with my 'goof', knowing that no matter
>> >what I say, no matter how vile and disturbing, every moment of me talking to him
>> >is treasured because it means he is not being outright tortured I'm glad you
>> >remember the show. I was a fan. If I saw it today I'm not sure how I'd feel.
>> >I saw small clips on some of the sites I visited, but my visits were short because
>> >I'm an impatient guy and Roland is from the past, and that's cool - but I'm from the
>> >future, daddy, and I'm moving on!
>> >
>> >I'll check it out, I remember one site mentioning his lifetime torture slave,
>> >but it didn't go too far into it. I don't think I'll find anything you couldn't.
>> I never thought of the torture thing. It was great humor with some
>> excellent horror films.
>>
>> No, he was great. He would splice shots of himself doing silly things
>> into the films that he would show. They were high points in his show.
>>
>> Too bad YouTube ignores him completely. There must be some examples
>> somewhere.
>>
>> I think our 11:00 pm news lasted twenty minutes with John Facenda.
>> Then Shock Theater would start at 11:20 pm.
>
>
>While I was influenced to some extent by the guy - I was about 11 at the
>time - I believe my torture routine is way more advanced and funny. For
>example, when my goof whimpers I'll ask him, "What is the problem now
>goof?", and he'll say, "It's the pain, Sir - my eyes, they're still swollen up
>from yesterday." And I say, "Ok come on now, let me see those eyes",
>followed by, "Wow, they are swollen up - about triple normal size." Whimpering
>in the background. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to pop them with
>a rubber band." The goof yells, "No no", to which I respond, "Shut up" before
>turning to my invisible servant Johnny and asking him to please go into
>drawer #2 and getting me an industrial size rubber band, 2 inch gauge.
>Then as the goof whimpers (I supply all voices), I narrate what's coming
>down. "Ok, now we pull back the band (whimpering) - as far as it will go -
>all the way back, like William Tell and his bow and arrow - all the way back,
>and then - RE-LEASE", followed by a sucking/slapping sound and a wild
>scream from the goof with me quickly adding, "And now the other eye."
>He moans again to which I reply, "We must balance them out", as I quickly
>pop the other eye with the same howling results followed by, "Balance. We
>MUST have balance." But it's not all torture, not by a long shot. My philosophies
>are lectured to my goof regularly. When he moans too much I tell him there
>are plenty of people in the world who have it worst, mentioning examples as
>'proof'. He agrees. He knows he has to. Oh, once he tried to bluff me by
>pretending not to care, as if he were above it all. But we quickly nixed that
>little ruse.
>
>We must have balance!
>
>Also, I love the concept of a torturer falling in love with his victim and
>wanting to release him. Not traditional love, something even deeper.
>But he knows he can never release him, he'll go to the cops or come
>back seeking revenge in some way. The torturer really wants to let the
>guy go but he knows he can't. What a catch 22. A sad state of affairs
>for the poor torturer.
>
>Also, bringing in another victim to a nearby table, then leaving the room.
>The new guy says he's been here before and he knows a way out. He says
>he has a key. Everything is hush hush as he unlocks his own cuffs then
>those of the other goof. Then he leads him down a long hallway with a
>door at the end. "There it is", the new guy says, "the door to freedom."
>When he opens it the torturer is standing on the other side with his arm
>held out to block exit as both he and the newest victim who is in reality
>one of his assistants break into wild laughter with the disheartened almost
>free victim returned once again to the room of despair.

I don't remember anything like that at all.

On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 1:26:01 PM UTC-7, Thomas Joseph wrote:
> I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
> a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
> and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
> Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
> guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
> get in the way either.
>
> I would never gravitate to a channel just because it has less
> commercials. I know it has its own commercials and they
> don't take a lot of time, but in some way are even more pushy
> than traditional commercials. No different from the TV
> news reporters who refer to themselves as our "First Informers"
> and present themselves as bigger stars than the news itself.
> I guess one way or another we all pay for what we get. Some
> kind of commercial attached to everything. I knew a guy who
> claimed to hate them. He was at my place and a girl was with
> me. I could tell he was trying to impress her by talking about
> how much he hated commercials, and his face lit up when she
> said she hated them too. I had the TV on. Pre remote days, at
> least for me. The guy would get up and turn off the sound every
> single time a commercial came on. His up and down sensitivity
> act was far more irritating to me than the worst commercial of
> all time. I am no fan either but I'm pretty good at letting them just
> pass through my empty head. Sometimes I even enjoy them in
> some way, not necessarily the same way each time. But then
> sometimes if they've gone on for a really long time and I've
> been pretty cool about it - not bothered in the least - suddenly
> I'll just explode, "Oh for Christ's sake now, enough is enough
> already!" Funny stuff.

That was a masterpiece, TJ. I almost wanted to excise and capture the part in "quotation marks" that MADE me giggle but then that would make it more important than it really is.

On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 10:15:18 PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:57:42 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 9:33:36?PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
> >> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:23:19 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
> >> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 5:26:17?PM UTC-4, Mack A. Damia wrote:
> >> >> On Wed, 30 Aug 2023 13:25:57 -0700 (PDT), Thomas Joseph
> >> >> <jazee...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
> >> >> >a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
> >> >> >and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
> >> >> >Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
> >> >> >guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
> >> >> >get in the way either. \
> >> >>
> >> >> John Zacherle, WCAU-TV Channel 10. "Shock Theater". Know it well,"My
> >> >> Dear". Strange though: I remember the show very well. He had a beast
> >> >> in an underground cave whom you never saw called "Thing". See if you
> >> >> can find a reference to this. Seems to have disappeared.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >I checked him out on the web a year or so ago. John Zacherle He was
> >> >a pioneer of the shock theatre TV genre, among others. Of course maybe
> >> >it was just the right time. I was a kid. I liked his act. I liked the victim in
> >> >his underground cave, the way he talked to it. It's like if you have only one
> >> >victim chained up in your basement you want to be careful not to go too
> >> >far and ruin a good thing. That's the art of torture - how far can you take
> >> >your goof without losing him for good? I have my own torture humor bit
> >> >where I talk philosophy and world affairs with my 'goof', knowing that no matter
> >> >what I say, no matter how vile and disturbing, every moment of me talking to him
> >> >is treasured because it means he is not being outright tortured I'm glad you
> >> >remember the show. I was a fan. If I saw it today I'm not sure how I'd feel.
> >> >I saw small clips on some of the sites I visited, but my visits were short because
> >> >I'm an impatient guy and Roland is from the past, and that's cool - but I'm from the
> >> >future, daddy, and I'm moving on!
> >> >
> >> >I'll check it out, I remember one site mentioning his lifetime torture slave,
> >> >but it didn't go too far into it. I don't think I'll find anything you couldn't.
> >> I never thought of the torture thing. It was great humor with some
> >> excellent horror films.
> >>
> >> No, he was great. He would splice shots of himself doing silly things
> >> into the films that he would show. They were high points in his show.
> >>
> >> Too bad YouTube ignores him completely. There must be some examples
> >> somewhere.
> >>
> >> I think our 11:00 pm news lasted twenty minutes with John Facenda.
> >> Then Shock Theater would start at 11:20 pm.
> >
> >
> >While I was influenced to some extent by the guy - I was about 11 at the
> >time - I believe my torture routine is way more advanced and funny. For
> >example, when my goof whimpers I'll ask him, "What is the problem now
> >goof?", and he'll say, "It's the pain, Sir - my eyes, they're still swollen up
> >from yesterday." And I say, "Ok come on now, let me see those eyes",
> >followed by, "Wow, they are swollen up - about triple normal size." Whimpering
> >in the background. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to pop them with
> >a rubber band." The goof yells, "No no", to which I respond, "Shut up" before
> >turning to my invisible servant Johnny and asking him to please go into
> >drawer #2 and getting me an industrial size rubber band, 2 inch gauge.
> >Then as the goof whimpers (I supply all voices), I narrate what's coming
> >down. "Ok, now we pull back the band (whimpering) - as far as it will go -
> >all the way back, like William Tell and his bow and arrow - all the way back,
> >and then - RE-LEASE", followed by a sucking/slapping sound and a wild
> >scream from the goof with me quickly adding, "And now the other eye."
> >He moans again to which I reply, "We must balance them out", as I quickly
> >pop the other eye with the same howling results followed by, "Balance. We
> >MUST have balance." But it's not all torture, not by a long shot. My philosophies
> >are lectured to my goof regularly. When he moans too much I tell him there
> >are plenty of people in the world who have it worst, mentioning examples as
> >'proof'. He agrees. He knows he has to. Oh, once he tried to bluff me by
> >pretending not to care, as if he were above it all. But we quickly nixed that
> >little ruse.
> >
> >We must have balance!
> >
> >Also, I love the concept of a torturer falling in love with his victim and
> >wanting to release him. Not traditional love, something even deeper.
> >But he knows he can never release him, he'll go to the cops or come
> >back seeking revenge in some way. The torturer really wants to let the
> >guy go but he knows he can't. What a catch 22. A sad state of affairs
> >for the poor torturer.
> >
> >Also, bringing in another victim to a nearby table, then leaving the room.
> >The new guy says he's been here before and he knows a way out. He says
> >he has a key. Everything is hush hush as he unlocks his own cuffs then
> >those of the other goof. Then he leads him down a long hallway with a
> >door at the end. "There it is", the new guy says, "the door to freedom."
> >When he opens it the torturer is standing on the other side with his arm
> >held out to block exit as both he and the newest victim who is in reality
> >one of his assistants break into wild laughter with the disheartened almost
> >free victim returned once again to the room of despair.
> I don't remember anything like that at all.

Of course not. I was talking about MY tv show, not Roland's. We
have already acknowledged the guy as something special at least in
nostalgia oriented terms, so it's time to move beyond Roland's ancient
schtick, and up to the super modern, innovative, and hilarious (and so
far very hard for the average person to understand), of Thomas Joseph,
who has his own TV in his own mind every day and never watches it.

On Thursday, August 31, 2023 at 12:43:27 PM UTC-4, bozo de niro wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 30, 2023 at 1:26:01 PM UTC-7, Thomas Joseph wrote:
> > I am not railing on TCM, just saying it's become more an institution than
> > a show. I never needed such a show growing up midway between Philly
> > and NYC and getting those great late night movie channels. One from
> > Philly featured monster movies on the weekend and was hosted by a
> > guy named Roland. When I was a kid I really enjoyed him. He did not
> > get in the way either.
> >
> > I would never gravitate to a channel just because it has less
> > commercials. I know it has its own commercials and they
> > don't take a lot of time, but in some way are even more pushy
> > than traditional commercials. No different from the TV
> > news reporters who refer to themselves as our "First Informers"
> > and present themselves as bigger stars than the news itself.
> > I guess one way or another we all pay for what we get. Some
> > kind of commercial attached to everything. I knew a guy who
> > claimed to hate them. He was at my place and a girl was with
> > me. I could tell he was trying to impress her by talking about
> > how much he hated commercials, and his face lit up when she
> > said she hated them too. I had the TV on. Pre remote days, at
> > least for me. The guy would get up and turn off the sound every
> > single time a commercial came on. His up and down sensitivity
> > act was far more irritating to me than the worst commercial of
> > all time. I am no fan either but I'm pretty good at letting them just
> > pass through my empty head. Sometimes I even enjoy them in
> > some way, not necessarily the same way each time. But then
> > sometimes if they've gone on for a really long time and I've
> > been pretty cool about it - not bothered in the least - suddenly
> > I'll just explode, "Oh for Christ's sake now, enough is enough
> > already!" Funny stuff.

> That was a masterpiece, TJ. I almost wanted to excise and
capture the part in "quotation marks" that MADE me giggle but
then that would make it more important than it really is.

It doesn't matter if it's important or not, what counts is you read it,
you fully aBzorBed and analyzed it and saw it for what it was and
always will be, a living masterpiece. I don't even know what part
of my masterpiece you are referring to and I don't care. I don't
need to know. It is more than enough just knowing that you
read my words and had the energy and verve and "moxie" to
respond to them. For that may God bless your soul Bozo.

TJ, you ever hear of or watch "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" by the Coen Brothers?

Yes or no?

On Sunday, September 3, 2023 at 7:33:11 PM UTC-4, bozo de niro wrote:
> TJ, you ever hear of or watch "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" by the Coen Brothers?
>
> Yes or no?

Very demanding Bozo, very demanding, the "Yes or No" thing. Now come on,
you know you're not going to get that from me, although to get it out of the way
as quickly as possible the answer is "NO", I did not see it. But I did some things
they did that I enjoyed. As a matter of fact I never even heard of The Ballad
of Buster Scruggs."

I want to be a fan of a movie so obscure that only a select few get to see
it, and for some reason I am in that group. Then I tape it but only show it
to a few select people of my own choosing. Hell, you might be one of them.
I invite people over for private screenings of the film. They are allowed, even
encouraged, to tell others about the film, how great it is but how only a few
people have ever seen it. This makes it even more appealing. People just
gotta see it, they'll give just about anything.

I got a project in the works, been talking to some insiders on the
Hollywood scene and just want to know if you want in on it. Yes
or no.