This seminal artefact by F.C Judd, was released in 1963, and I've had it in my collection since the late 1980s.
O Trapalhao No Planalto Dos Macacos, d. J.B Tanko (1976)
I've known for some time that there was a Brazilian Planet Of The Apes, but is it as good as that sounds? No, absolutely not, it's totally rotten.
September 29, 1971 - Miami, Florida: decked out in hot pants, Denise Vickary, an airline stewardess instructor, tried to fool a new hijacker device called the Mark III Friskem by putting a knife in her pants.
The device, a magnetometer, measures disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field. The disturbances are created by a large piece of metal like a weapon. If the field is disturbed, a light flashes on a small screen. The device is set to differentiate between size and mass so that a passenger with a wrist watch or small pocket knife could pass through and board the aircraft, but the device will detect a weapon or large knife. This device is now being used by Eastern in Miami is now more sensitive than previous devices used by the airlines.
From Skyjacked.
Hijacking was a hot enough topic in the 1970s to warrant this 96 page black and white magazine, featuring a detailed history of air piracy, some scrappy cartoons, some ultra-grainy photographs - and about half a dozen adverts for male slimming devices like the Torso-Toner, the Body Taper-Slim Shirt and the Zip-Slim Control Brief.
Charlton were never known for their quality, but they tried very hard indeed. I prefer their superb range of horror comics, with their silly stories and frequent misspellings, but I'm very fond of this magazine, not least because it's clearly been through some stuff (check out the various prices on the cover) and may very well be a one-off for the them (I've never seen anything else calling itself 'A Charlton AWARE publication').
It ends with a paragraph that makes it clear that this is not some exploitative rubbish wonkily printed on low-end paper, but a public service document.
M. John Harrison started as a key figure in the new British Science Fiction scene, before growing dissatisfied with his own work in the late-1970s, scaling back his writing and moving North to work in a book shop and obsessively climb things.
Since the mid-1980s, and his full return to writing, his best work has been characterised by a mix of documentary realism and fantastic mysticism. The characters in his stories do normal, even banal things in the shadow of something bigger and much weirder than their everyday lives: occult ritual gone wrong, alien invasion, ancient forces lurking in the depths of urban waterways...
In Signs Of Life (1997) he gives us a detailed story about four interconnected (socially, professionally, romantically) people underpinned by sub-plots about medical waste, genetic experimentation, foreign espionage and the varying fortunes of entrepreneurs in a fluctuating economy. As I re-read the book the other day I was struck by three passages that, to me, summed up just how interesting and brilliant Harrison's writing is. I present them here without context (or subtext), I just think they're cool.
'...someone who looked as if he used to run Butlins was interviewing someone who looked as if he used to run Bulgaria.'
'The girl watched, puzzled as a Martian, then said: 'They're thick and they love it. It's such a revenge for being alive, isn't it? To be thick and in the way.'
'...until I lost her I was always moving from moment to moment, incident to incident, in a kind of warm, seamless daze. I never wanted anything until Isobel. I've not really wanted much since.'
I have no idea if any of this will resonate with anybody else, but they reverberate with me, I think they are extraordinary.
I very much enjoy Mexican wrestling movies, and I've watched a lot, but but they tend to suffer from pacing issues, repetition, and a lack of ambition. Take Santo & Blue Demon Versus The Monsters from 1970, for instance - the two most famous masked wrestlers in the world take on history's most incredible monsters: on paper it looks sensational; onscreen, however, the results are only occasionally interesting (Franquestain is very much a Mexican take on Mary Shelley's deathless monster - he has a droopy moustache).
That said, I find that these films are more of a mood than a genre, i.e. dull and daft as they can be, sometimes nothing else will do. Luckily, Santo made over 50 films, and Blue Demon 25 (including 10 together), so it's fairly easy to scratch that particular itch when it occurs, even if doing so never fully satisfies the urge.
THEY CAME FROM THE SUN
Written and performed by twelve‑ and thirteen‑year‑olds at The Stationers’ Company’s School*
One day a red glow was seen by an Astronomer flying past a lighthouse.
The Astronomer’s name was Brian Gromley. He telephoned the police and waited until they arrived. It was about 10 minutes before the police came.
Immediately Mr Gromley showed them on a map where he had seen IT land. They went to the spot where IT had landed, with dogs and ammunition. The police officer who was in charge was called PC Maguba. He said: “Be careful men – this craft may be dangerous.”
One police officer approached the craft too close and suddenly a red line hit him. All the others couldn’t bear to look as the policeman disintegrated into red dust.
The officer in charge said: “Get back men, this is a job for the Army.” So he walked up to the car and called the Army.
It was about one hour before the Army arrived with tanks and machine guns and about 1,000 men.
Then, suddenly the doors of the spacecraft opened. Out of it came three robots. One by one they positioned themselves around the spacecraft as if they were guarding it. Then, one of the soldiers thought that the robots were going to attack them so he shot at one of them but the bullet just rebounded off the robot. At this point the robots fired at every soldier that could be seen and there and then they all disintegrated into red dust. Then suddenly one of the robots said: “We do not want to harm you, and we only attack when somebody shoots at us!”
They started to walk in the direction of the town. The officer said: “Where are you going?”, and the robot replied: “We are going to the SPECIAL WAR ARTILLERY DEPARTMENT.” When they arrived they began to steal the artillery and nobody could do anything about it.
More robots came over the hill and destroyed them. But nobody knew where they came from. Then they disappeared into thin air and nobody saw them again.
The Astronomer said it would probably be about 100,000 years before they would return.
* A comprehensive school in Hornsey, North London, with 1220 pupils and 80 teachers. The project was carried out by a student at the Institute of Education of the London University, Tim Brown.
The children were photographed, making the costumes and performing the play, by Brian Shuel, London.
From Robots: Fact, Fiction + Prediction (Jasia Reichardt, 1978)
I love everything about this early 60s sound effects EP, the work of F.C Judd, a largely unsung hero of early British electronic music. I have loads of his records, so he'll be back.
Bodies at rest and in motion, from Movement, Awareness & Creativity, by Leah Bartal & Nira Ne'eman (1975)
