Why the New Version of Google Images Stinks

I was going to write a post on the first anime feature films to be released in the United States (it is probably earlier than you think), but yesterday Google introduced a revamped version of Google Images. Sadly, this afternoon, I became one of the many users (perhaps I should say "victims") who was switched to this revamped version of Google's image search. To say it is greatly inferior to the old version of Google Images would be an understatement.

This new version of Google Images has a wholly new layout, with solid rows images lined up, row upon row on the page. It also loads many more images, divided into pages. On the surface this layout might not seem problematic for users, but in fact I suspect it is (I know it is for three of my friends and myself). First, there is not much white space between the images, which can easily create strain on one's eyes if one searches for images often. Second, even with a cable connection, the sheer number of pages the new Google Images loads can slow the loading down time considerably. Consider this, I searched for "Beatles" and it loaded 29 pages of images at once!

What may be a more serious problem is that no information is provided beneath the images as with the old version of Google Images. One is neither told the size of the image or the website it is from. To find this out one has to scroll over the images themselves. For us who would like to know the size of an image before downloading it and have a healthy distrust of certain websites, this is exceedingly inconvenient. The old version of Google Images provided information about the image right below the image.

To give you an idea of the new version of Google Images, here is a screenshot of; my search on "Beatles:"




And here is a screenshot of the old version:




Now Google does provide a link to "Switch to Basic Version (which is the old version--that's how I was able to create the above screen shot), but it is at the bottom of the page. That means one will have to wait until the page loads (which loads slower than it used to because of the sheer number of images it is loading) or hit the "Stop" button on his or her browser to hit the link to the "Basic," yet superior version (that is, the old version).

So far I know of a at least four people who dislike the new Google Images. I know that there are many more. I paid a visit to the Google Images Help Forum and there were already many people asking how they could switch to the old version of Google Images or simply complaining about the new version. Given this, I rather suspect that if Google does not either provide users a way to permanently switch to the old version or simply reinstate the old version entirely, they might be losing users to Yahoo Image Search. As much as I like Google, I might well be one of them.

The 41st Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

I had planned to finish up the eulogy I had begun last night for James Gammon today, but I am on my fourth day of insomnia and not up to a full entry. Since today is the anniversary of the first time Man sat foot on the moon, then, I will leave you with the video of Walter Cronkite's coverage of that historic event and a link to the article I wrote for the 40th anniversary last year.




The 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Actor James Gammon Passes On

Actor James Gammon, who appeared in many movies and TV shows, passed on July 16, 2010 at the age of 70. The cause was cancer of the liver and adrenal glands.

James Gammon was born on April 20, 1940 in Newman, Illinois. With his mother and his siblings he would later move to Florida to go to college. He had a career as a television cameraman, then moved to Los Angeles where he started acting in local theatre. There he began acting in local theatre. He made his television debut as a guest star in The Wild Wild West episode "Night of the Freebooters" in 1966. For the rest of the Sixties he appeared frequently on television, in such shows as Captain Nice, Bonanza, The Invaders, Batman, Felony Squad, The Virginian, and The High Chaparral. He made his movie debut in Cool Hand Luke in 1967 and for the rest of the Sixties appeared in such movies as Journey to Shiloh (1968), The Thousand Palne Raid (1969), and A Man Called Horse (1970).

In the Seventies James Gammon frequently appeared on various television shows, including The F.B.I., Dusty's Trail, Kung Fu, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, Cannon, Charlie's Angels, and Lou Grant. He played the recurring role of  Zack Rosswell on The Waltons. He also appeared in several movies, including Cry for Me, Billy (1972), Zandy's Bride (1974), Macon County Line (1974), The Wild McCulloughs (1975), Bobby Jo and the Outlaw (1976), The Pom Pom Girls (1976),  Black Oak Conspiracy (1977), and Urban Cowboy (1980). In 1972 Mr. Gammon founed the MET Theatre in Los Angeles with several fellow actors. Over the years he would both act in several plays and direct several plays there.

In the Eighties James Gammon guest starred on such shows as Crime Story, The Master, Cagney & Lacey, Murder She Wrote, In the Heat of the Night, and Midnight Caller. He was a regular on the series Baghdad Cafe from 1990 to 1991 and appeared in the mini-series Streets of Laredo. He appeared in such films as Vision Quest (1985), Sylvester (1985), Silver Bullet (1985), Stacking (1987), Made in Heaven (1987), and The Milagro Beanfield War (1988),  Two of Mr. Gammon's best known roles were from the Eighties: Arnie Westrum in Silver Bullet (1985), and Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown in Major League (1989).

In the Nineties James Gammon guest starred on The Young Riders, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, L. A. Law, and Tracey Takes On. He was a regular on both the TV series Homefront and Nash Bridges. Mr. Gammon appeared in such movies as Leaving Normal (1992), The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993), Major League II (1994), Wyatt Earp (1994), Wild Bill (1995), Point Blank (1998), and The Iron Giant (1999). He made his only appearance on Broadway in Buried Child. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance.

In the Naughts James Gammon guest starred on Filmore, Crossing Jordan, and Monk. He also appeared in the telefilm Jesse Stone: Sea Change. He appeared in such films as Life or Something Like It (2002), Cold Mountain (2002), Silver City (2003), Don't Come Knocking (2005), and Appaloosa (2007).

While most of the roles James Gammon played to tended to be of the grizzled type, from cowboys to Lou Brown from Major League, he actually had a good deal of range. Gammon could be the good natured, honourable, and heroic cowpoke or he could be a base villain. Indeed, many might be surprised to know that it was Mr. Gammon who provided the voice of the overbearing, fanatical Gneral Sudokoff Indeed, playwright and friend Sam Shepard said of James Gammon in a recent article in The Los Angeles Times, "The guy was a whole atmosphere unto himself, and I always tried to find a place for him. He was very versatile, and could do just about anything." Mr. Shepard could have spoken no truer words bout the great James Gammon.

Peter Fernandez, the Voice of Speed Racer, Passes On

Peter Fernadez, who provided the voice for Speed Racer in the anime of the same name. passed on July 15, 2010, at the age of 83. The cause was cancer.

Peter Fernandez was born on January 2, 1927 in New York City. From ages 7 to 11 he worked as a model for the John Robert Powers Agency. He made his debut on Broadway when he was only 11 in the play Whiteoaks in 1938. Over the next few years he would appear on Broadway in such plays as Love's Old Sweet Song (1940), The Damask Cheek (1942), and Listen Professor (1943). He also worked on radio shows, including children's shows. He would also work on such radio shows as The Adventures of Superman, Suspense, Gangbusters, and Mr. District Attorney. In 1945 Mr. Fernandez was drafted in the United States Army, but World War II ended before he could seen any action.

In 1945 Peter Fernandez started writing Western and adventure stories for pulp magazines.In 1949 he made his feature film debut in the movie City Across the River. He also started working ion television, in such shows as Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Suspense, Kraft Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre, and The Hallmark Hall of Fame. He was a regular on the series Leave It to Papa in 1950. In 1955 he appeared one last time on Broadway, in the play Once Upon a Tailor. It was in 1960 that Mr. Fernandez first provided voice work on the English version of an anime. He was the voice of Alakazam in Alakazam the Great, the English language version of the anime Saiyuki.

Mr, Fernandez found steady work providing his voice for both live action foreign films and animated TV series. He did dubbing work on Mothra (1961) and  Buddha (1961). He provided additional voices for the first episode of Astroboy, the American version of the anime Tetsuwan Atomu. He also provided voice work for Gigantor, the American versio nof the anime Tetsujin 28-go. During this period Mr. Fernandez also worked as a voice or dialogue director on films ranging from Buddha (1961) to Godzilla versus the Sea Monster (1966). He also wrote scripts for the Americanised episodes of Astroboy and Gignator, as well as scripts for The Alley Cats (1966) and The Space Giants (1967).

It was in 1967 that Peter Fernandez would provide the voice for his most famous character, the lead in the show Speed Racer, the Engish version of the anime Mach Go Go Go. He also provided the voice of the mysterious Racer X and Speed's brother James, as well as writing scripts for the series and acting as its voice director. Mr. Fernadez would also be the voice of Dr. Mariner on Marine Boy, the English version of the anime Kaitei Shōnen Marin. Mr. Fernandez also wrote scripts for Marine Boy and served as its voice director.

Peter Fernadez provided voice work for the American version of Ultraman in 1972, as well as providing scripts for the American version of the show. He was the voice of Mark Venture on Star Blazers, the American version of the anime Uchū Senkan Yamato. Over the years Mr. Fenandez would provide voice work for  The Enchanted Journey (1984), Castle in the Sky (Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta, 1986), What's Been Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), the animated series Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, the animated series Kenny the Shark, and the TV series Obie and Bengie. He played additional voice on the show Courage the Cowardly Dog. Mr. Fernadez also appeared in the documentary Otaku Unite. He would also return to Speed Racer after a fashion. He provided the voice of the announcer in the 2008 film adaptation of Speed Racer and the voice of Spritle in Speed Racer: The Next Generation.

Peter Fernandez was giant in anime fandom, and there is little reason to wonder why. As a voice actor he was exceedingly versatile. Indeed, one only need watch Speed Racer to know this. As Speed his voice sounds like that of a very young man. As Racer X his voice is not only lower, but rather more ominous. Speed and Racer X's voices sound as if they come from two different people, both both were done by Peter Fernandez. Aside from his versatility, it must be pointed out that as a voice actor he had one of the longest careers of any actor who dubbed anime. Alakazam the Great was only the third anime feature film to be released in the United States (Tale of the White Serpent was released in March, Magic Boy in June, and Alakazam the Great in July, all during 1961). He also worked on Astroboy, the first anime TV series released in the United States. Indeed, it must be pointed out that Peter Fernandez is one of the few individuals who worked on four of the early anime series released in the United States in the Sixties, and four of the most important at that (Astroboy, Gigantor, Speed Racer, and Marine Boy). Mr. Fernandez was a great voice actor and certainly important to the history of anime in the United States.

How to Watch Horror Movies

It is a complaint I have heard since childhood and, no doubts others have as well. Quite simply, that complaint is that "Such and such horror movie is not scary." As far as criticism goes, the complaint that a horror movie is not scary is a legitimate one. After all, the entire reason for horror movies is to frighten us, perhaps thereby reassuring us that our real life fears are not quite so, well, horrible. A horror movie that is not scary is then no better than a comedy that is not funny.

Sadly, the fact that horror movies must be scary place them at a rather large disadvantage when compared to other genres. For many other genres of film it is sufficient to have a good script, good direction, and a good cast. Horror movies must not only have these ingredients, must also have several scenes which are truly frightening too. Worse yet, because many horror movies deal with elements of the supernatural and even at times science fiction, horror movies often require a greater suspension of disbelief than other genres of film. And, unfortunately, it is in easing the viewer into suspending his or her disbelief that many horror movies fail.

Of course, in many cases I am not so sure that it is a particular horror movie is to blame when a particular viewer does not suspend his or her disbelief, resulting in the viewer not being frightened by the film. The plain fact is that often viewers actually do things that effectively prevent any given horror movie from scaring them. While many viewers go to watch a horror movie at a theatre or watch a horror movie at home on television with the intention of being scared, they either consciously or unconsciously undo any chance that they will actually be frightened.

Perhaps the worst and most common thing that prevent viewers from being scared by any given horror movie is simply entering the whole situation in the wrong mindset. Often times viewers will go to a horror movie at the cinema or watch one on television determined not to be scared. The viewer essentially creates an adversarial relationship with the film, daring the movie to scare him or her. This can be made all the worse if the viewer is watching a traditional supernatural horror movie or a science fiction horror movie and simply refuses to suspend disbelief. A refusal to suspend disbelief will effectively end any chances that a viewer will be frightened by a movie. After all, one cannot be frightened by Count Orlok or Frankenstein's Creature if he or she simply doesn't believe in them, even for a moment.

Fortunately, most horror movie aficiaonados are more than willing to suspend their disbelief for a movie. Even then, however, they might take courses of action that reduce the chance of being frightened by a horror movie. In his book Danse Macabre, Stephen King points out that people often go to see horror movies at the theatre in packs. I rather suspect that the same is often true when they watch horror movies on television. This effectively reduces the odds that one will be frightened simply because most human beings feel there is safety in numbers. It is much less likely on will be frightened by Freddy Krueger if one has six or seven of his or her friends at his side. We naturally take comfort and feel more secure when we have a number of our friends at our side. With this in mind, the odds of truly being scared by a horror movie increase when the number of friends accompany one to watch a horror movie in the theatre or who are watching a horror movie in a home decrease. One might not be scared if he or she is watching a horror movie with six or seven friends. He and she may well be frightened if he or she has only one, two, or no friends with him or her!

Of course, here I must point out that in many respects it is easier to be frightened by a horror movie in a theatre than it is in a home. While one is often  surrounded by a number of people at theatere, unless one takes a pack of his or her friends with him or her, most of those people are going to be strangers, from whom little to no comfort or sense of security can be derived. A cinema also has another advantage over watching horror movies at home. In a cinema the lights are not simply dimmed, but shut off, the only light coming from the movie screen and exit signs.Even if one was not scared of the dark as a child, darkness is still disconcerting to most human beings. After all, we cannot see as well in the dark, meaning that we cannot see any unseen threats either. I might add that in shutting off the lights, the cinema forces the viewer's attention on the screen, allowing for a greater suspension of disbelief. With regards to viewing horror movies at home, too often people watch them with every light turned on in the house. In the familiar surroundings of one's home, with every single light on, this greatly reduces the odds one will be frightened. The odds are even made even less if, when watching a horror movie in one's home with every single light on in the house, one has several of his or her friends there as well.

Given these factors, it would seem that it is best to watch a horror movie in a theatre with as few friends with one as possible. If watching a horror movie at home, then it is perhaps best to watch it with the lights turned off and with as few friends present as possible. Whether watching a horror movie in a cinema or at home, one must be willing to suspend his or her disbelief. Certainly there are going to be people who cannot do this, but then they would probably not be watching a horror movie anyway. I

Here I want to say that by no means do I want to place the blame on the viewer if he or she is not scared by any given horror movie. The plain fact is that in the history of horror movies there have been many that simply have not been frightening. This has been complicated by the fact that for the past forty years there have been many lazy filmmakers who depend too much on the gross out or violence and too little on genuine horror generated by atmosphere, suspense, and the fear of the unknown. I have seen the original Friday the 13th more than once and it has never frightened me, even when I watched it all alone in a darkened living room at home. The simple fact is that even as a horror movie it fails. On the other hand, I have seen Universal's classic The Black Cat (1934) many times. Despite having less violence and a lower body count, it scares me every time. Indeed, while a bad horror movie will fail to frighten even if one watches it alone and in the dark, a good horror movie can be frightening no matter what. By total coincidence, I saw Hellraiser (1987) with a pack of friends (this was by total coincidence--we all showed up at the cinema at the same time) and we were all still scared by the movie!

Ultimately, to sum things up, we must give horror movies a chance to frighten us. It is true that many times, even when the circumstances, we will not be scared by movies. Such films as Friday the 13th (1980), Anaconda (1997), and Dracula (1930---and, yes, I know I will take flake for that one) simply aren't enough to frighten anyone.  On the hand, truly great horror films , such as Peeping Tom (1960), The Descent (2005), and Frankenstein (1930) can be truly frightening. We just have to given them a chance.

Tuli Kupferberg of The Fugs Passes On

Bohemian, Beat poet, and founder of The Fugs, Tuli Kupferberg passed yesterday at the age of 86.

Tufi Kupferberg was born Naphtali Kupferberg on September 28, 1923 in New York City. He grew up on the Lower East Side of that city. As a teenager he became a fan of jazz and political activist for the left. He graduated from Brooklyn  College in 1944, then took a job as a medical librarian. Mr. Kupferberg had planned to become a physician, but instead began writing poetry and articles for such publications as The Village Voice. Mr. Kupferbeg gained some prominence among the Beat crowd (although he preferred the term "Bohemian"), to the point that it is believed that he is the man "who jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge" in Allen Ginsberg's poem "Howl." Although Mr. Kupferberg had jumped off a bridge, it was not the Brooklyn Bridge. Instead it was the Manhattan Bridge in a suicide attempt in 1945. In 1959 Mr. Kupferberg founded the short lived magazine Birth. It ran for only three issues, but featured works by Allen Ginsberg and Diane Di Prima.

In 1959 Tufi Kupferberg published his first books. That year he published Beating; Children's Writings; Children as Authors: A Big Bibliography (with Sylvia Topp);  Snow Job: Poems 1946-1959; and Selected Fruits &  Nuts. In all he would write nearly 50 books. He also published the magazine Swing and, from 1961 to 1964, the magazine Yeah. It was in 1964 that Paul Kupferberg and fellow poet Ed Sanders formed The Fugs. Mr. Kupferberg named the band after a euphemism for the F-word from Norman Mailer's novel The Naked and the Dead. The membership of The Fugs would change greatly over the years, although Messrs. Kupferberg and Sanders remained with them throughout their history. From 1964 to 1980 The Fugs released sixteen albums.

The Fugs were largely a satirical band. Much of their material was scatological in nature, it often dealt with sex, and it often took politically controversial stands such as protests against war. Because of their subject matter (not to mention their name), The Fugs never received a good deal of airplay and never really found mainstream success. Indeed, their controversial nature resulted in them being thrown off  one major label.

In addition to his work with The Fugs, Mr. Kupferberg also performed with Revolting Theatre and The Fuxxons, as well as releasing two solo album in 1966 and 1989. He continued writing, including his best known book 1001 Ways to Beat the Draft in 1966.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of The Fugs' music or Mr. Kupferberg's writing, there can be no doubt that he was an innovator and a provocateur.  Well before many other bands, The Fugs dealt with controversial topics and were far more political than even most bands in the Sixties. Mr. Kupferberg himself also had a good deal of talent, drawing upon his own Jewish and Eastern European background in both his songs and his poetry. He was definitely one of the most creative minds to come out of the Beat Movement.

Comic Book Writer Harvey Pekar Passes On

Harvey Pekar, creator and writer of the underground comic book American Splendour, passed yesterday at the age of 70. The cause has yet to be determined, but Mr. Pekar was in poor health. A few years ago he had lymphoma and currently he had prostate cancer. He also had high blood pressure.

Harvey Pekar was born in on October 8, 1939, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. It was in 1962, when Robert Crumb was working for American Greetings in Cleveland, that Mr. Pekar met the soon to be famous underground comic book artist. The two shared a love of jazz music, beginning a life long friendship.

Harvey Pekar was intrigued by Robert Crumb's comic strips, which avoided the traditional adventure format and costumed characters of the time. Mr. Pekar concluded that one could do as much with the comic book format as one could with film. It would be many years before Mr. Pekar would launch his comic book. Eventually he showed Robert Crumb some comic book stories he had written, illustrated with stick figures. Impressed, Mr. Crumb offered to illustrate Mr. Pekar's story and it appeared, under the title "Crazy Ed," in Mr. Crumb's People's Comics in 1972. The first issue of American Splendour appeared in 1976. Unlike other comic books of the time, American Splendour was an autobiographical look at Mr. Pekar and friends and co-workers' lives, viewed through a lens of humour. Stories focused on such everyday concerns as money, health problems, and other concerns. Over the years it was illustrated by artists ranging from Drew Friedman to Rick Geary. Seventeen issues were published between 1976 and 1993, most often self published. In 1994 Dark Horse Comics began publishing American Splendour. In 2006 DC Comics published an Amerian Splendour mini-series under their Vertigo imprint and another in 2008.

In 1994 Mr. Pekar published Our Cancer Year, chronicling his experiences with lymphoma. In 2005 Vertigo published The Quitter, which chronicled Mr. Pekar's early life. He also wrote Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story (2006), Macedonia (2006), The Beats (2009), and Studs Terkel Working (2009),. In 2003 a film adaptation of American Splendour was released, starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar.

In the late Eighties Harvey Pekar was a regular guest on Late Night with David Letterman. He would be banned for several years from the show, after criticising General Electric and stating point blank that Mr. Letterman was a shill for GE.

There can be no doubt that Harvey Pekar was one of the most revolutionary comic book writers of the 20th Century. After all, he did not write about superheroes or sci-fi adventurers, but about the life of the middle class, often with humour and often with a sardonic wit. His stories dealt with anxiety and depression in a way that few comic book stories ever had before. Despite his image as a somewhat irascible fellow, those who met Mr. Pekar or had the pleasure of knowing him also said that he was in real life a very nice fellow. Indeed, he was known for his support of young comic book creators. Although it was irregularly published and often drove Mr. Pekar into debt, American Splendour was an innovative title that long ago earned Harvey Pekar a place in comic book history.