I should have pointed out in my previous post on the Dunwich Horror and H.P. Lovecraft that there are better adaptations of the author’s work for the screen.
Online, a short-ish (44 minute) silent piece does a particularly notable job with The Call of Cthulhu. Visit the promo site or (thanks, Hulu!) watch the video online right now.
The Nova/National Geographic documentary ‘Great Incan Rebellion’ challenges the old story of ‘Spanish Conquistadors arrive in New World and use superior technology to crush primitive native peoples.’ Forensic pathologists collaborate with archaeologists and historians to uncover a much more plausible narrative, in which the discontents and ambitions of the native tribes of the Andes feature prominently.
I don’t doubt for a second that steel, gunpowder and horses gave the Conquistadors a significant advantage. But advanced technology alone is no guarantee of success, no matter what the myth makers may want us to believe.
I’ve followed REM since the Chronic Town EP (though, alas, not faithfully in recent decades.) After a weekend filled with personal sorrow, this track’s melancholy vocals, haunting guitar fills and stubbornly determined drum track suit my mood while also embodying the ‘alternative America’ feel I hope to pull off through the entire Northern Arcadia series.