“Klaatu barada nikto.”
Snow started a bit ago, big flakes slowly falling. It won’t amount to much, less than an inch, but it is the first snow of the season. The morning is warm, in comparison to the last few mornings, at 34°. My bird feeders need filling. That’s next.
Henry is afraid of ghosts. No big deal, I’ll just add it to his always growing list of phobias. Let me explain. Both dogs sleep on my bed, Nala under the covers, Henry at the foot of the bed. Nala moves a bit under the spread before she settles. Henry usually jumps on second. Last night was different. Henry was asleep at the foot of the bed when Nala got under the cover and did her usual settling. Henry saw a giant, amorphous, moving lump under the covers. He growled his scary growl. I quickly took the spread off Nala so he could see her. I patted him. He settled down at the foot of the bed. Nala slept beside him with her head out and her body covered by the spread. Ghost dispelled.
I love black and white science fiction movies, especially the ones released in the 50’s. I saw them first hand back then. I loved the monsters and the men who became monsters. The special effects looked real enough in black and white. Aliens were never friendly. Earthquakes were common and many necessitated a trip to the center of the Earth. Much later, Creature Double Feature cemented my love for these movies. I have watched a few of these movies the last few days. Right now I’m watching The Night the World Exploded. I can see what I never saw when I was a kid. The special effects are now easy to see. I see repeat pictures, backgrounds. Moving a set back and forth or up and down is movement, in a train or an airplane. One character is a woman scientist, a beautiful scientist. She and the leading man are thrown together to stop the disaster. At one point they kiss, world crisis averted, romance begun and the movie is over.
I love finding new 50’s movies I haven’t seen or don’t remember. Those special effects now enhance the movies for me. Many are creative. Many are not, some almost silly, but I don’t care. They are fun to watch and enjoy.
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January 11, 2025 at 5:27 pm
Hi Kat,
Today the sun is shining and the high temperature is 51°. All of the ice and snow has sublimated or melted. Tomorrow we are going back home since the construction has been completed. We have a walk through with the contractor for any small touch ups on Tuesday. The new dishwasher is installed and we can leave the hotel.
The reconstruction from the slab leak has been hell on earth. The leak occurred in late October. Our insurance adjuster has been driving me nuts because I have no idea who’s on first and What’s on second.
And, the contractor seems to forget a lot of what’s in the contract. On Tuesday, we met with him and my wife remarked that the furniture needed to be put back and the place was covered with dirt. We asked him to do a cleanup and he said, “We do a construction cleanup”. We reminded him that the contract included resetting all the furniture and a professional cleanup. The next day a cleaning crew arrived. They had the pictures of where the furniture was located right after the flood. Yesterday, my wife went to the house and she informed me, that every piece of furniture has been put back and the place is very, very clean.
The movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, is my favorite science fiction film. It still holds up well today from being made during the Cold War years. I remember Sam Jaffe also played on a 1950s medical show called, “Ben Casey”. He played the same part but was dressed in a medical lab coat instead of a sports coat. He also played in the movie version of, “Shangra La”.
The line at the top of today’s blog, was the line that the spaceman gave to the woman, to save the world from being destroyed by the robot. Imagine being in the writer’s room and having a serious discussion on what should an alien command be in English that would stop a robot. 🙂 “Klaatu barada nikto”, should be inscribed on a wall at the SciFi Hall of Fame.
January 11, 2025 at 7:41 pm
Hi Bob,
We have stayed in the mid-30’s all day. The snow has come and gone and come back again, but it has no sticking power. The street is just wet.
Finally, you get back home. I’m so glad for you. Also, well done on holding the contractor to the contract. I’m sure he would have been happy had you not remembered. My friends had their whole house destroyed when an upstairs pipe developed a leak when they were in Florida for the winter. They had many fights with the insurance company. They never returned but rather sold the house for an amazing amount.
Under the picture in every blog you‘ll find a comment naming the author of the quote. Today it says quote to Gort from Klaatu through Helen Benson.