Author: Tristan Black Wolf

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Pornografitti

Extreme (Pat Badger, Nuno Bettencourt, Gary Cherone, Paul Geary)

TRACKS: 1—Decadence Dance; 2—Li’l Jack Horny; 3—When I’m President; 4—Get the Funk Out; 5—More Than Words; 6—Money (In God We Trust); 7—It(‘s a Monster); 8—Pornografitti; 9—When I first Kissed You; 10—Suzi (Wants Her All-Day What?); 11—He-Man Woman Hater; 12—Song For Love; 13—Hole Hearted.

RELEASE DATE: August 7, 1990

TAGS: Rock, Horrible, Indecisive, Fuggeddabowdit

RATING: ★☆☆☆☆

Although this is the second album by this band, it’s the first I’ve heard of them. I was suckered into buying the whole album, back in the day before you could buy one song out of the bunch. (To really date myself, I happened to be channel-surfing, in those ancient days when VH-1 actually played — GASP! — music videos, and I heard “Hole Hearted,” which is apparently the band’s only hit.) The balance of this album is so radically different from that one cut (read: “Hole Hearted” is the only song worth anything), and it’s definitely not a keeper; meanwhile, I thought I’d take a long look at who and what these guys are, or at least what they tried to be. Continue reading “Pornografitti”

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The Man Who Wanted to Be Guilty

By Henrik Stangerup
ISBN 0-7145-2733-5

Publication Year: 1982

Tags: Social Morality, Science Fiction, Existential

Rating: ★★★★☆

The world of Stangerup’s main character, Torben, is both strange and familiar. Some of its elements would seem to be part of modern day Europe – perhaps Denmark (the author’s home country), or Sweden or Switzerland – while other elements seem part of a future that had only been conceived in George Orwell’s nightmarish visions of 1984. In this strange, familiar, antiseptic, perfectly balanced world, Torben kills his wife Edith in a fit of rage, and he is taken away by the Helpers to a state hospital. He is treated well, with compassion, and with understanding and forgiveness that surpasses all human comprehension. When his case of aggression has been duly dealt with, he is released back into his caring, clean, orderly society, free from any stain of crime or guilt. Continue reading “The Man Who Wanted to Be Guilty”

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The Mind Snatchers (1972)

MindSnatchersImage
The Mind Snatchers (1972)

(1972, not rated) Christopher Walken (Pvt. James Reese), Joss Ackland (Dr. Frederick), Ralph Meeker (The Major), Ronny Cox (Sgt. Boford Miles), Marco St. John (Shannon). Music: Phil Ramone and Chris Dedrick (performed by Free Design). Screenplay: Ron Whyte, based on the play The Happiness Cage by Dennis Reardon. Director: Bernard Girard. 94 minutes.

Notable: Christopher Walken’s first starring role.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 

Army Private James Reese has anger issues, which lands him in a highly secluded and heavily secured country estate somewhere in the West German countryside. He and two other American soldiers are under the exclusive care of Dr. Frederick, who seems to be anything but an ordinary general practitioner. As Reese discovers that his orderly, Shannon, behaves more like a sadistic prison guard, and that his doctor has a separate laboratory with monkeys who appear to have had some sort of surgery performed upon their brains, he comes to realize that his presence is less for recovery than it is for experimentation. Continue reading “The Mind Snatchers (1972)”

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What This Is About

As I get more familiar with this whole WordPress thing, I’ll begin posting “actual content,” meaning the book, film, and music reviews that The Wolf’s Den of Black Wolf’s Imaginarium is all about. Many of my readers and fans are under 30, and some are convinced that nothing of particular value happened before they got here. My job is to show them otherwise, so much of what I talk about here will be about the pre-2000 years. I’ll also be alerting them to things in the current millennium that are worth noting or worth avoiding.

There will also be a segment called “Wordsmything,” which is about writing and language usage. It’s my attempt at saving what little is left of language, communication, and proper usage. I realize that I may fail, but one may hope.

Eventually, I’ll have a better template for all this, too, and it’ll make more sense. However, for those of you curious to know what I’m attempting here… well, here’s the start. Keep checking back. Little by little, I’ll actually make something of this site.

UPDATE, December 31, 2017: Having just learned how to create a new page (rather than simply add a post), I’ve created a page that explains better what this site is about. Come have a look at the new page!

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As Sam Beckett Would Say, “Oh Boy”…

My Handsome Wolf Self
Yes, I’m a black wolf. There’s a surprise!

I’ve been enjoying the complete Quantum Leap series recently. Those of you who are familiar with it may recall that it became a running joke to have time-traveling Sam Becket arrive in his new location, look around, and say, “Oh Boy…”

Time: Sunday evening, October 22, 2017. I get to play with a whole new toy, and since I’m planning on taking this very slowly, don’t be surprised if I’m less-than-swift to post something of consequence. Until I can find a copy of “WordPress for the Utterly Incompetent,” I’ll be feeling my way along. Here’s hoping I don’t bump into anything too sharp (my wit, obviously, not qualifying!).

This’ll get better soon, I promise!