One Million Years B.C. (1966) After Tumak of the dark-haired Rock tribe is exiled to the desert by his father, he hooks up with Loana of the fair-haired Shell tribe. Alas, the pair's Pebbles and Bamm Bamm romance does nothing to cool relations between the two tribes and it looks like war is on the horizon. However, the local volcano may have something to say about things. Completely ahistorical (what fossil records?) and really thin on story, this is mostly remembered these days for Ms. Fuzzy Britches herself, Raquel Welch, running around in a leather bikini while being chased by stop-motion dinosaurs.
TIL: The use of the labels A.D. (anno domini/in the year of the lord) and B.C. (before Christ) started in the year 525 when a monk named Dionysius started utilizing A.D. to count the years since the traditionally recognized birth of Jesus. The Venerable Bede added B.C. to the system in 731 and Charlemagne officially adopted the usage of both labels sometime in the ninth century. The attempts to replace the labels with B.C.E. (before common era) and C.E. (common era) started around 1715 but the new labels have never caught on as much as non-Christians would like. I mean, you still have to explain why it's the common era, so it's really kind of lame.
Midnight Offerings (1981) Were you a fan of the old M-TV show Celebrity Deathmatch but were disappointed they never did a Waltons vs. Little House on the Prairie episode? Not to worry, ABC's Movie of the Week has you covered. It's Erin Walton vs. Mary Ingalls as two teen witches dueling to the death (eventually) for the affection of their high school's resident heartthrob. Sure it's silly, but played so dead serious you can't help but just go with it. Who knew such family friendly femmes could be so fatal?
TIL: Making offerings to deities is an ancient cross-cultural thing. However, according to Genesis, the origin of the practice goes back to humanity's beginning with Cain‘s gift of the fruits of the earth to Jehovah. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes, "at the root of all oblations is the idea that God has a claim upon man, his possessions, and the fruits of his labors, and is pleased at receiving an acknowledgment of His sovereignty." That notion remains as part of the small offerings we make these days like fasting, tithing, or charitable actions.
The Monster Walks (1932) An heiress and her fiancé arrive at her ancestral estate only to find (1) everybody there hates her guts because the family's patriarch left her all the money, and (2) her dearly departed dad was conducting weird experiments in the basement. All of that can mean only one thing. You guessed it, there's a homicidal ape loose in the house. Look, I don't know where all these rich people in the 30's and 40's got their apes, but if the glut of old dark house movies from that time period are any indication, every mansion came with at last one. Anyway, this is a lesser effort in the ape in an old dark house subgenre, but if will do if you've already seen the better ones.
TIL: Apes have no religion, but Jane Goodall often wondered if they had some kind of inner life, especially after watching them seemingly contemplate nature with what seemed to be awe and wonder. “Why wouldn’t they also have feelings of some kind of spirituality?” she asked. Alas, Michael Egnor at Mind Matters notes that every study conducted so far indicates, "Apes can’t contemplate spirituality-God, the afterlife, morality, salvation-because they can’t contemplate anything... Abstraction is beyond the reach of animal minds, because abstraction is an immaterial power of the mind, and only humans have immaterial thoughts." That's a shame, because I really wanted to use potential ape spirituality to make a joke about the I'm spiritual but not religious crowd.
The Sleeping Car (1990) A sad sack divorced thirtysomething heading back to college to finish his degree rents an old locomotive sleeping car decked out for student housing. Unbeknownst to him, the car's last occupant was an alcoholic serial-killing train engineer whose spiteful spirit still haunts the sofa. In no time, the lethal love seat kills anyone who stops by for a visit. No lie. It's a promising weird setup boosted by the presence of the always affable David Naughton. Sadly, it never quite gels and the film ultimately feels like lukewarm 80's leftovers.
TIL: For 30 years prior to WWI, The St. Anthony of Padua chapel rail car carried the sacraments to areas of the U.S. that had no Catholic Church. Spearheaded by Oklahoma City’s Bishop Francis Kelley, the idea was was initially opposed by his Archbishop who, true to his Franciscan roots, felt that a heated railroad car with bedrooms and a kitchen was far too luxurious a way for missionaries to travel. But Pope Pius IX loved the idea and gave it his blessing. Actually, the Baptists, Russian Orthodox, and Episcopalians also had cars on the rails, but the Catholic car was the most popular, with 25,000 people in Boston alone turning out to see it.
SHORT FEATURE: HAIR - EASY TO BE HARD Ordo Amoris? Yep, one of those old Catholic terms is actually in the news. Now, don't worry, we're not getting into politics (Blech!), we're just interested in the ideas itself. So, if you're looking for a defense or condemnation of how any particular politician thinks the principle of Ordo Amoris should be carried out, look elsewhere.
Aquinas (of course) spells out the general guidelines of Ordo Amoris, or the Order of Love if you prefer English. He notes, "One’s obligation to love a person is proportionate to the gravity of the sin one commits in acting against this love.” Basically, he's saying it's a sin not to prioritize those for whom we have greater responsibility.
Let's do a for instance. What if your neighbor's house catches on fire at the same time Los Angeles is burning down. Ideally, you'd be in the financial situation to aid both. But, if you're strapped, helping your neighbor has to come first. Yes, even if their dog yaps too much or they haven't returned those tools they borrowed. Really, it's just common sense.
Oddly enough, the point is made quite excellently in this clip from the musical Hair in which the character of Hud's fiancé shows up to tell him she's pregnant and he tells her to get lost because he's too busy being a part of the movement. This cause her to break into song (and has anybody performed this better than Cheryl Barnes does here) lamenting how this socially conscious hippie is overlooking the very person he should be helping the most. Ordo Amoris is right there in the lyrics...
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)