Tombstone Tuesday!

Though spelled slightly different, this gravestone in St. Catharines' Victoria Lawn Cemetery instantly reminded me of the Marvel Comics character Daimon Hellstrom (aka: The Son of Satan, Hellstorm). He was first introduced in the pages of the original Ghost Rider comic back in the '70s, but is probably best remembered as a member of The Defenders and husband to teammate Patsy Walker (aka: Hellcat).


Stay Tombed!

-DE

The Quest for the Dark Tower Pt. 1: Clements Guns and Sporting Goods

***Spoiler warning! Though I've made every attempt to avoid giving away key plot points during this quest, it's still very possible that information discussed herein may spoil a new reader's experience, so consider yourself warned! ***

I've been a die-hard fan of Stephen King's Dark Tower series since I first read books 1 and 2 waaay back in the summer of 1989. I've read each new book as they've become available (rereading the series as a whole each time over), as well as the current Marvel Comics series. That coupled with years of research into so many of the literary, cinematic, musical, and other various cultural and political references made in the series (also thanks in no small part to both Robin Furth's The Dark Tower: A Concordance and Bev Vincent's The Road to the Dark Tower) has resulted in my having an absurdly vast knowledge of most things Dark Tower.

Even though the story was said to have been completed in 2004, like so many other Dark Tower fans, I'm eagerly anticipating the latest chapter in the story (The Wind Through the Keyhole, scheduled for release April 24, 2012). So while we're all counting down the days for the new book, I figured I'd share some Dark Tower-related photos and memorabilia I've collected over the years.

Now let's travel todash to a place somewhere between New York City 1977 and Mid-World: Clements Guns and Sporting Goods!

Near the end of the second book, The Drawing of the Three, Roland Deschain of Gilead finds himself more or less on his own in New York City, racing against time to restock ammunition for his ancestral guns and find medication strong enough to kill the infection raging in his veins from a lobstrosity's bite, while also simultaneously trying to save the lives, minds and souls of his three traveling companions.

After consulting the mind of the monstrous Jack Mort, whose body he hijacked byway of a mystical door, Roland hops into a cab and tells the driver to take him to Seventh Avenue and Forty-ninth Street where, as we soon learn, Clements Guns and Sporting Goods is located.

In the New York of our where and when, Seventh Ave and Forty-ninth St. is home to The Playwright Tavern & Restaurant where Niki and I decided to grab a bite. The second story windows offered a great view looking out over the intersection, but the food ended up not treating us so well.

Roland had his own problems at this address. Shortly after he enters the shop he asks the clerk, "Fat Johnny" Holden, if he has a caliber chart he can look at. Fat Johnny offers up a dog-eared Shooter's Bible.

Roland thinks to himself that the book's title is very noble sounding before flipping through and finding the Fottergraff of the ammunition he requires: Winchester .45 pistol shells. But Fat Johnny tells Roland that without a handgun permit, there's no way he can sell the ammo to him legally.

It takes a little guile, finesse and the involvement of two of "New York's Finest" before Roland can lay his hands on those precious gun shells, but - true gunslinger that he is - he eventually wins through and before long he's striding down the street towards his next objective . . .

Long days, pleasant nights!

-DE

Tombstone Tuesday!

This is one of my favorite gravestones and it was the very first that Niki and I stopped and admired while in Los Angeles' Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Responsible for voicing nearly every Looney Tunes character (including such unforgettable cartoon titans as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig) Mel Blanc truly was "The Man of a Thousand Voices." He was also the voice of other memorable cartoon characters like Woody Woodpecker, Mister Magoo, Dino and Barney Rubble on The Flintstones, Mister Spacely on The Jetsons and one of my all-time favorites, The Do-Do from the 1938 Warner Bros. cartoon short Porky in Wackyland (which was remade in color for the 1949 Merrie Melodies' Dough For The Do-Do).


Stay Tombed!

-DE

Humble beginnings . . .

Here's a flawed little jewel from the vaults: Darryl and the Magic Potion. The lone survivor of at least 5 or 6 storybooks that I "published" in Grade 3. Every student had to write and publish only one book, but apparently I had a talkative muse whispering in my ear, because I ended up churning these things out faster than Stephen King.

The cover art is a little sketchy (I'm pretty sure the back cover is a "house ad" for another of my storytelling masterpieces), proudly Made In Canada with obviously absolutely no planning put into the placement of that title.

When you're 7 going on 8 years old, Etheridge is a very difficult name to spell, even when it's your own. So I opted to write under the pseudonym Darryl E. Why is there a Blue Fairy hovering around the cauldron? No idea.

Dedicated to my Mum. That's right, because every great author dedicates their first work to their mother.

More blue fairies, a bad Broom Hilda knock-off and a rhyme-scheme torn directly from William Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Apparently, I got stumped when it came to illustrating a monster turning into a human so I just stuck with not-Broom Hilda mixing up the strange brew. I'm assuming her wig fell in the cauldron.

A little better. Hair's back and at least I've got a man turning into a beast, that or some naked guy peeling off a Godzilla costume.

And we wrap it all up with the critics' praise for the author!

-DE

Tombstone Tuesday!

Like the "Fear" gravestone from last month, this grave marker in St. Catharines' Victoria Lawn Cemetery with the name "Lament" struck me as being eerily appropriate for the setting.


Stay tombed!

-DE

Gruβ vom Krampus!

Have yourself a Kreepy Krampusnacht!

If you have no idea what this is all about, go here.

-The DE/VLs (or Der Teufels if you prefer . . .)

I Triple Dog-Dare You!

It's the first of December! And now that the late November hiatus is over, Thursday will now be the regular day for DE/VL Design's weekly blog. So without further ado, let's get started with something sure to get everyone into the holiday spirit!

A few weeks ago, Niki shared a bit of information with me that she had picked up from a longtime St. Catharines resident about how a few exterior scenes from the classic holiday movie A Christmas Story had been filmed outside of a school not very far from where we now live.

FUDGE! (Only I didn't say "Fudge" . . .)

How awesome is that? Pretty awesome. We looked into it and discovered that the school in question, Victoria Public School (though now no longer operating as a school, but as a women's shelter) is just around the corner from the end of our street! We grabbed the camera and set out on one of our shortest, but most fulfilling movie location adventures yet.

While the building that had doubled as Warren G. Harding Elementary School is actually located on Niagara Street, most of the playground scenes were filmed around behind the school, in an area that has now been converted into the shelter's parking area and a recent townhouse complex known as Victoria Estates.

Because of the new housing development, many of the original landmarks are now gone, but it was still easy to find the famous spot where poor Flick was triple dog-dared into sticking his tongue to the frozen flagpole by Schwartz and Ralphie.

The pole at the corner of Gibson Place and Fitzgerald St. is long gone (though sharp-eyed Niki was quick to point out the new flagpole in the backyard of the house that now stands where the infamous dare went down), but a nearby telephone pole substitutes nicely for recreating the iconic scene.

Incredibly, the houses directly across the intersection look exactly as they did in the background of the shots where Flick is trapped by his own tongue as the rest of the kids run back to the school after the recess bell rings.

Of course, if you want to learn more about all the shoot locations from A Christmas Story, there's really only one place to go: A Christmas Story House.

Want to see the Triple Dog-Dare in it's entirety? You can watch it on Youtube.

Happy Holidays everyone!

-DE