SIMPSONS DID IT - Lead not Read

Looking at the world of fiction and popular culture... and things The Simpsons did before reality.

The Simpsons Movie not to be outdone by the series has its own Simpsons-Did-It moment.

THE EVIL OVERLORD LIST - Conquest & Expansion

Now at Super Villain Advice.

WHY ISN'T THIS A FILM - The Execution of Anne Greene

Looking at the world of fiction and popular culture... and real things that should be films.

Anne Greene was a scullery maid at the house of Sir Thomas Reade, sometime Sheriff of Oxfordshire, when she became an unmarried mother...

DUGGY'S BLOGS - 10 Things that Prove Doctor Who is Real

Looking at the world of fiction and popular culture...

A post from this blog has been cleaned up and reformatted and now appears on "Duggy's Blogs."  You can check it out if you want.

~ DUG.

TRULY FICTION - Year Two

Looking at the world of fiction and popular culture...

...in a range of blogs.

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC - Creatures from the Depths of Space

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life events sound like the first 10 minutes of horror films...

Are there things alive in the vacwm of space?  Alive, growing, planing to feed?

SIMPSONS DID IT - Baby Translator

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction. With over 500 episodes, The Simpsons have used a lot of ideas: so many reality is starting to copy them...

Homer's brother Herb came up with a stupid idea for an invention that ended up making him a whole lot of money.  But no one would make it for it in real life, right?

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC - CDC Outbreak 3: Anthrax!

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life events sound like the first 10 minutes of horror films...

Even non-existent horror films deserve can become a pointless franchise, so we bring you CDC Outbreak 3...

Cue the Horror Theme Music...

SIMPSONS DID IT - Don Mattingly's Hair

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction. With over 500 episodes, The Simpsons have used a lot of ideas.  So many reality is starting to copy them...

Don Mattingly's hair.

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC - CDC Outbreak 2: Bird Flu Contamination

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life events sound like the first 10 minutes of horror films...

Even non-existent horror films deserve sequels, so we bring you CDC Outbreak 2...

Cue the Horror Theme Music...

TRUTH IS JUST AS STRANGE AS FICTION - Poll

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.

CUE THE HORROR FILM THEME MUSIC

Posts that explore real life events that should only occur in horror films.

• Murder House.
• The Camp Scott Murders.
• Graves of the Insane.
• Miami Zombie Attack.
• The Giant Prehistoric Virus Returns.
• Poveglia: Island of Madness.
• Caves of the Moon.
• Man-Made Super Flu.
• CDC Outbreak.

RANDOM TRUTH

Top ten lists with their own version of "the truth".

• 10 Things That Prove the Doctor Who is Real.
• 10 Truths about Chi-mas.

SIMPSONS DID IT

Things that have happened in real life after they happened on The Simpsons.

• All You Can Eat Seafood (part 1).
• All You Can Eat Seafood (part 2).
• The Good Morning Burger.
• Siegfried & Roy's Tiger Attack.
• The Homer: Car of the Future.

Please do the survey:

~ DUG.

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC - CDC Outbreak

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life events sound like the first 10 minutes of horror films...

In the non-existent horror film Man-Made Super Flu we discovered that scientists had mutated the H1N1 virus into a more dangerous form.  But luckily it was confided to a Level 2 Bio-hazard lab so the horror film nightmare could never happen because labs are so safe...

Cue the Horror Theme Music...

THE SIMPSONS DID IT - The Homer Car of the Future.

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction. With over 500 episodes, The Simpsons have used a lot of ideas.  So many reality is starting to copy them...

The features of Homer's hideous car design come to be...

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC - Man-Made Super Flu

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life events sound like the first 10 minutes of horror films...

In 2009, the H1N1 virus, responsible for 17,000 deaths worldwide during the  Swine Flu pandemic.  Most people now have an immunity too it.

But now, Scientists have managed to mutate it to bypass that immunity...

Cue the Horror Theme Music...

The work was done in a Level 2 Biohazard Lab.  Which is great, because we all know how well those work in films.  And if it escapes the lab humans would be defenceless against it.

~ DUG.

SIMPSONS DID IT - Siegfried & Roy's Tiger Attack

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction. With over 500 episodes, The Simpsons have used a lot of ideas.  So many reality is starting to copy them...

 A parody on The Simpsons of Siegfried & Roy ends in a tiger attack, ten years before a real incident.

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC - Caves of the Moon

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life events sound like the first 10 minutes of horror films...

Following the discovery of the existence of volcanic tunnels on the moon, Russian officials have suggested that Cosmonauts and moon colonists could live in them.

Cosmonauts.  On the moon.  Living in unexplored caves.

Cue the Horror Theme Music...

~ DUG.

MY OTHER BLOGS - Poll

 Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.

The following is a list of my blogs and your chance to rank them best to worst.

TOP X TOPICS

Looking at online lists.

• TOP TEN TOP X LISTS:  A look at the 10 best lists on a topic and the top 10 created from them.
• OVERTHINKING THE EVIL OVERLORD LIST:  A satirical look at the already satirical "If I Where an Evil Overlord" List.  [Now part of Super Villain Advice]
• RANDOM TOP X:  Random List stuff.
• TOP X THINGS YOU PROBABLY KNEW ABOUT: Challenging "Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About..." lists.
• TOP X LISTS DEBUNKED:  A look at lists of facts and trivia to see how much fact they contain.  [Now part of Internet Truth Debunked]

THE FILM RULES

A look at the rules and formulas certain genres follow.

• RANDOM RULES:  Random Rules stuff.
• THE SLASHER FILM RULES:  Testing the rules followed by Slasher/Horror films.
• ROM COM RULES:   Testing the rules followed by Romantic Comedy films.
• LESBIAN ROMANCES:  Testing the rules followed by Lesbian Romance films.

TRUTH IS JUST AS STRANGE AS FICTION

A look at truth and fiction.

• REAL LIFE SUPER VILLAINS:  Real people who may actually be Super Villains.  [Now part of Super Villain Advice]
• RANDOM TRUTH:  Random "True" stuff.
• CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC:  Real events that seem like the set up of horror films.
• WHY ISN'T THIS A FILM:  Real life people and events that should be films.  [Now part of SCREEN SCREENER]
• SIMPSONS DID IT:  Things that happened on The Simpsons that then occurred in real life.
• PRINT THE LEGEND:  The truth behind commonly believed stories.  [Now part of INTERNET TRUTH DEBUNKED]

THE TV & DVD COMPLETIST

Dealing with my need to own complete sets of DVDs.

• BREAKING THE COMPLETIST:  Things I don't want to own, but leave my set incomplete.
• THE EXTRAS COMPLETIST:  Short films and mini-episodes for a variety of series.
• THE INCOMPLETIST:  Things I want to own on DVD but can't get.
• THE COMPLETIST RANT:  Complaints about things to do with DVD collecting.
• THE COMPLETIST'S GUIDE:  Listing the order for series.  [Now part of SCREEN SCREENER]

UNMADE SF

Proposed, unproduced or incomplete Science Fiction films and series.

STEPPING ON POINT

Helping find places to start comics and some of the codes that comic companies and fans use.

• THE COMIC CODE: Deciphering comic jargon.
• COMIC ISSUES:  Recommended collections as starting points.
• FIRST ISSUES:  Upcoming first issues and stepping on points.
• UNIVERSES:  Explaining some of comic book's shared universes.

THE BOOKS ON...

Book reviews.

• THE BOOKS ON MY SHELF:  General books.
• THE BOOKS ON FILM:  Books about films and the making of...
• THE BOOKS ON MY  BOOKLIST:  Books I studies at university.
• THE BOOKS ON TELEVISION:  Books about television and the making of...
• THE BOOKS ON MY DEVICE:  Books on my tablet or phone.
• THE BOOKS ON LOAN:  Books I've borrowed from someone.

SUPER VILLAIN ADVICE

Advice for Super Villains or Super Advice for Villains.  Not sure which.

• ASK A SUPER VILLAIN:  Advice column.
• EVIL OVERLORD LIST REDUX:  A satirical look at the already satirical "If I Where an Evil Overlord" List.  [Continuing from TOP X TOPICS]
• REAL LIFE SUPER VILLAIN:  Real people who may actually be Super Villains.   [Continuing from TRUTH IS AS STRANGE AS FICTION]
• SUPER VILLAIN POV:  A look at books, comics and film about the villain.
• SUPER VILLAIN CLASSIFIEDS:  Classified ads for Super Villains, Henchmen and Super Heroes.

SCREEN SCREENER

About films and television.

• COMPLETING FILMS SHOWDOWN:  Two films released close together.  Which is better?
• WHY ISN'T THIS ON SCREEN:  Real life people and events that should be films.  [Continuing from TRUTH IS AS STRANGE AS FICTION]
• THE SCREENER'S GUIDE:  Listing the order for series.  [Continuing from THE TV & DVD COMPLETIST]
• SHORT FILM SCREENER:  10 Short films available online.

INTERNET TRUTH DEBUNKED

Debunking falsehoods.

• INTERNET RESHARES DEBUNKED:  Things reshared proven fake.
• INTERNET MEMES DEBUNKED:  Making fun of fun.
• CRYPTOZOOLOGY DEBUNKED:  A look a fake pictures of fake creatures.

Please do the survey and rank the blogs.

~ DUG.

TRUTH IS JUST AS STRANGE AS FICTION - Bottom 10

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.

My ten posts on this blog that get have the lowest average weekly traffic.

Why a bottom 10 and not a top ten?  Surely showcasing the better, more popular blogs would be smarter?  I've never been one to equate popularity with quality.  Sure, some may be popular because they are quality.  But the popular ones are already getting traffic, the unpopular ones are the ones that need the boost.

There are two main ways to determine popularity (or a lack of) total views or the average weekly views.  Now, the total views favours the older posts.  One view a week for a twenty weeks is gets better results an entry from last week that gets nineteen views.  I don't like that idea.  So, I've gone for a weekly average.  That does preference newer posts that have the burst of views from their first week... but isn't as skewed.  Any anyway, if they do that badly, their results will have settled down by the next time I do this.

At this stage I've done 20 posts..  As such these bottom twenty are half the posts, it's not like all of them have done too badly.

The list goes from lowest average (10) to best (1)

10.  Cue the Horror Theme Music - The Camp Scott Murders

• Fair enough.

9.  Cue the Horror Theme Music - The Miami Zombie Attack

• You probably remember it.

8.  Cue the Horror Theme Music - Graves of the Insane

• The mass graves of Bedlam patients unearthed... to build a subway.

7.  Random Truth - 10 Truths about Chi-mas

• What it say on the tin.  But with added crazy.

6.  Why Isn't This A Film - Alexander & Draga

• A love story that may have resulted in WWI.

5.  Cue the Horror Theme Music - The Giant Prehistoric Virus Returns

• French scientists unfreeze a giant prehistoric virus to show that they can.

4.  Print the Legend - Jeanne de Clisson "The Lioness of Brittany"

• The truth about a French noble woman who may or may not have led a pirate fleet against her own country.

3.  Simpsons Did It - All You Can Eat (Part 1)

• All you can eat Sushi.

2.  Why Isn't This A Film - Bass Reeves

• One of the greatest US Marshals and an early African-American law men.

1.  Cue the Horror Theme Music - Murder House

• The scene of one of the US's earliest mass murders.

~ DUG.

WHY ISN'T THIS ON SCREEN - "Coya, Come Home"

Looking at film and television.   Some real life people and events should be films or TV shows, like...

Coya Knutson (1912 - 1996) Congresswoman.

Coya planned to become an opera singer, but after attending Juliard she realised she wasn't going to make it and returned home.  She married Andy Knutson, an alcoholic who beat her and they adopted a boy called Terry.

She went into local politics, and eventually, upset with the agriculture policies of the Eisenhower administration, she ran against and defeated the sitting congressman and became the first female elected for Congress by Minnesota in 1955.  The Speaker of the House offered her a seat on any committee she wanted, with Agriculture her obvious choice.  The Speaker got her the position over the sexist objections of the Committee Chair.

When it came time for the next Presidential election, the Minnesota party officials supported Adlai Stevenson Senator in the Primary, hoping that the local Senator Humbert Humphrey would be his running mate.  Knutson supported Estes Kefauver because his agricultural policies were popular in her area and campaigned for him.  Kefauver won the Minnesota primary but lost to Stevenson.  Stevenson however made Kefauver his running mate.  Knutson became unpopular with the party locally.

She won a second term and moved to Washington with Terry to get away from Andy and his beatings.  Rumours started that she was having an affair with her Chief of Staff.  And then came the letter.

Signed by Andy, but possibly written by party officials it pleaded with Knutson to come home and be a proper wife and mother and to stop seeing other men.  The letter got into the hands of reporters and was printed under the headline "Coya, Come Home."

Knutson became the only sitting Democrat to lose their seat in congress at the next election.  She was defeated by Odin Langen, "A Big Man for a Man-sized Job," in a tight race.

After her election defeat she divorced Andy who died a few years after.  She is often cited as an example of sexism in politics and feminist martyr for obvious reasons.

~ DUG.

Don't forget the poll for the Competing Film Showdown.

SIMPSONS DID IT - The Good Morning Burger

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction. With over 500 episodes, The Simpsons have used a lot of ideas.  So many reality is starting to copy them...

7th May 1992: The Simpsons Season 3 Episode 23 "Bart's Best Friend Falls in Love" features an advertisement for The Good Morning Burger.

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC - Poveglia: Island of Madness

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life events sound like the first 10 minutes of horror films...

Poveglia is one of the islands in the Venetian Lagoon and is considered by some the most haunted island on Earth (You have to go to Europa for the most haunted island in the Solar System).  Oh, and it's now available for a 99 year lease from the Italian government.

Cue the Horror Theme Music...

PRINT THE LEGEND is now just a legend.

Print the Legend will no longer be posted on this site.  However, INTERNET TRUTH DEBUNKED will be the home of  for all your future truth needs.

WHY ISN'T THIS ON SCREEN? - Sir Bernard Spilsbury

Looking at film and television.   Some real life people and events should be films or TV shows, like...  Sir Bernard Spilsbury.

Bernard Spilsbury (1877 - 1947) Pathologist.

Film

A bio-pic of a driven but flawed man, considered by many a genius but over-confident to the point that he is responsible for guilty men to be set free and innocent men to be hung who eventually commits suicide by gassing himself in his lab.

TV Series

Contains everything a television series needs:

• Forensic Investigator - Pathologist.
• Period Piece - Bulk of cases 1910 - 1934.
• Charismatic - It is said his force of personality convinced may convinced many juries more than the evidence.
• Flawed - Over-confident, suffered depression.
• Driven - Willing to go beyond is expertise to convict someone he knows to be guilty.
• Loner - Insisted on working alone, refused to train students.

And his work included famous cases an events:

• The Case of the Crippens (1910) - which first got him public attention which was filmed as Dr Crippen (1942) and Dr Crippen (1963)
• The Case of the Brides in the Bath (1915) - which made his name and was filmed The Brides in the Bath (2003)
• The Herbert Armstrong Case (1921) - The only solicitor in UK history hanged for murder, filmed as Dandelion Dead.
• The Blazing Car Murder (1930)
• The Brighton Trunk Murders (1934) - Although Mancini was found not guilty he confessed before his death in 1973. 

He also

• Developed with Scotland Yard the "Murder Bag" the forensic equipment taken to suspicious deaths.
• Advised Operation Mincemeat during WWII.

Remember to do the Competing Films Poll.

~ DUG.

PRINT THE LEGEND - John Smith & Pocahontas

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Sometimes, however, the more interesting truth doesn't match the legend...

John Smith created the legend of Pocahontas as part of his ongoing self-aggrandisement...

WHY ISN'T THIS A FILM isn't here anymore

Why Isn't This A Film will no longer be posted on this site.  However, SCREEN SCREENER will be the home of WHY ISN'T THIS ON SCREEN for all your future true stories that need to be filmed needs.

WHY ISN'T THIS A FILM? - Tesla

Real Life can be much more interesting than fiction.  Some real life people and events should be films, like... Nikola Tesla.

Nikola Tesla is the new god of geekdom... as such, where is his film?

TRUTH IS AS STRANGE AS FICTION - Overview #2

The next 8 posts on this blog (following the overview of the first 8).

CUE THE HORROR THEME MUSIC
Things that have happened in real life that seem like the set-up of a horror film.

• Miami Zombie Attack.
• The Giant Prehistoric Virus Returns.

WHY ISN'T THIS A FILM?
Things that have happened in real life that should be movies.

• Alexander & Draga.
• Bass Reeves.

SIMPSONS DID IT
Things that have happened in real life after they happened on The Simpsons.

• All You Can Eat Seafood (part 1).
• All You Can Eat Seafood (part 2).

PRINT THE LEGEND
Things people claim have happened in real life... but didn't.

• Jeanne de Clisson "The Lioness of Brittany"
• The Man Who Inspired the Lone Ranger.

~ DUG.

REAL LIFE SUPER VILLAINS has got away.

Real Life Super Villains will no longer be posted on this site.  However, SUPER VILLAIN ADVICE will be the home of REAL LIFE SUPER VILLAINS for all your future Super Villain needs.

SIMPSONS DID IT - All You Can Eat Seafood (part 2)

With over 500 episodes, The Simpsons have used a lot of ideas.  So many reality is starting to copy them...

12th November 1992.

The first broadcast of "New Kid on the Block" (The Simpsons Season 4 Episode 8) in which Homer Simpson sues an All You Can Eat Seafood restaurant for false advertising because he hadn't had all he could eat.

May 2010.

David Martin entered A Ca-Shi to take advantage of their $28 All You Can Eat Sushi deal.  Martin then began to eat just the sashimi (the fish) and left the rice.  A Ca-Shi owner Jay Oh said he'd have to eat the rice to get more sushi.  Martin filed suit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court against A Ca-Shi for $4,000 for discriminating against his disability and "humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish".  See Part 1.

But, really, Sushi AYCE vs a Fried Fish Buffet?  A lawsuit for discrimination vs a lawsuit for false advertising.  It's a little forced, isn't it?  Well, let's take it up a notch.

12th May 2012.

Bill Wisth entered Chuck's Place to take advantage of their All You Can Eat Friday Fish Fry, as he regularly did.  After eat twelve pieces of fish Wisth was cut off, the establishment claiming that they were running out of food for other patrons.  Wisth refused to pay.  The restaurant offered him and additional eight pieces, but he called the police.

That Sunday, Wisth began picketing the restaurant and vowed to do so until there was a resolution.  The police were again called, Wisth has given a warning for disorderly conduct. 

The owner also claims that Wisth had been sharing food with a friend and has run up a substantial tab that he hasn't paid off and has caused disturbances in the past.  Wisth weighs 350lbs (strangely it comes up in most of the stories.)

~ DUG.

Other Television Posts.

PRINT THE LEGEND - The Man Who Inspired the Lone Ranger

Was Bass Reeves the basis for the fictional character, The Lone Ranger, based on a white man, Texas Ranger John Reynolds Hughes, or a black man, Deputy US Marshall Bass Reeves?

WHY ISN'T THIS A FILM - Bass Reeves

Deputy US Marshal Bass Reeves 

Bass Reeves being mentioned on Justified.

Bass was born in Paris, Texas, in 1838, the son of slaves.  Eventually Bass became his owner George Reeves' personal companion and body servant, and accompanied him when he joined up for the Civil War.  Bass left George, possibly after a fight over a card game, and fled to Indian Territory when he learnt to fire a pistol and rifle with both hands.  Although he claimed to be "only fair" with the rifle, he was regularly banned from competitive Turkey shoots for being too good.  After the Emancipation Proclamation he returned from Indian Territory and became a landowner in Arkansas, married and raised five girl and five boys.

In 1875, Judge Isaac C Parker appointed James F Fagan as US Marshal and told to hire around 200 Deputies to clear up the lawless Indian Territory.  Fagan heard of Reeves' familiarity with the territory and the languages and recruit Bass as a US Deputy Marshal based at Fort Smith (the court covering the largest area in the country) making him the first black man commissioned as a law man west of the Mississippi.

Reeves would leave with a number of warrants, and although Reeves could neither read nor write, he got people to read the Warrants to him and memorised them, allowing him to always produce the correct one when asked.  He was known to return herding a number of outlaws back to Fort Smith, making a handsome reward from fees and rewards.

• Suspecting two outlaws were hiding at their mothers, he disguised himself as a tramp with three bullet holes in his hat, and visited her saying he'd been chased by a posse who'd shot at him, hitting his hat.  The mother suggested that he join forces with her sons who returned as the sun was setting.  The three discussed their crimes and planned to head off the next morning.  While the two outlaws slept, Bass produced his hidden handcuffs, cuffed them while they slept and then led them the 28 miles back to his camp, being cursed by the mother the first three miles but making $5,000 in reward money for the pair.
• He arrested six outlaws by dressing as a farmer and pretending that his cart was caught on a stump outside thier house, drawing on them when they came out to help him.
• Bob Dozier was an outlaw wanted for a range of crimes. Unpredictable and hard to track no lawman came close to capture him.  He even eluded Reeves for several years until, finally, Reeves tracked him down.  Dozier refused to surrender and was shot and killed in a gunfight with Reeves.
• He arrested horse thief Belle Star in 1882.  Some say she surrendered when she heard that the legendary Bass Reeves was after her.
• He was arrested in 1887 for the murder of his posse's cook, William Leach, but was acquitted after testifying that he shot him accidentally while cleaning his gun.  It is suggested that the trial may have been politically motivated and bankrupted him.  The 49 year old returned to his job as a Deputy US Marshal.
• In 1889, he waited along the route that the Tom Story Gang's long-term horse rustling operation used, surprising Story with a warrant.  Story drew on Reeves, but Reeves was quicker.  The gang disbanded and were never heard from again.
• Greenleaf a Seminole outlaw who'd killed seven people and been on the run for nineteen years was captured by Reeves in 1890.
• The murderous Brunt brothers (known for killing officers of the law) laughed at him when they read the warrant he gave them.  But he used their inattention to draw on them, killing two and disarming and arresting the third.
• In 1892, Reeves returned with a pair of prisoners to be told that his daughter in-law had been murdered and his own son, Benny/Bennie, was wanted for the crime.  The warrant had been on US Marshall Leo Bennett's desk for two days - none of the other Deputy Marshals wanted to take it.  A shaken Reeves demanded that it be given to him.  Two weeks later he returned with his own son as a prisoner.  Benny served 20 years.
• After a running gun battle with Reeves in 1895, dying horse thief Jim Webb acknowledge Reeves as the better man, giving him his gun and scabbard.
• In 1902, Reeves and another Marshal arrested 25 men (black and white) who participated in a "race riot" in Paris, Texas.
• Reeves said that the most outlaws he captured at one time was a group of nineteen horse thieves he captured near Fort Still.
• One of Reeves last cases was arresting Reverend William Hobson for illegally selling liquor to pay off the church debt.  Only three years early Reeves had been baptised by the same Reverend.

Reeves brought in 3,000 outlaws in his 32 years as a Marshal, the only one on record to have served from the Parker's court until Oklahoma statehood.  In that time he also shot fourteen men as, but said that he never did so unless to save his own life.  He himself was never shot.  When Oklahoma achieve statehood in 1907, law enforcement came under state control and aged 68, Reeves joined the Muskogee Oklahoma Police Department, but no crimes were reported on his beat for the two years we walked it.  He was diagnosed with Brights disease in 1909 and died in 1910.

Why it should be filmed:

• Solid action story.
• Historical significance.
• To start to redress the white-washing of the American West.
• Morgan Freeman wants to play him.
• Cool facial hair.

Previous films of this story:

• Bass Reeves (2010) - A very low budget, hard to find film.
• Some claim inspiration for The Lone Ranger and Django Unchained due to superficial similarities.

Should be in the Style of:

• True Grit (2010).
• Unforgiven (1992).

~ DUG.

Other Film Blogs.