EXPERIMENT PERILOUS (Jacques Tourneur, 1944)

in

(Directed by Jacques Tourneur from a script by William Duff adapted from Margaret Carpenter’s 1943 novel; starring Hedy Lamarr, George Brent, Paul Lukas, Albert Dekker, and Carl Esmond. Released 29 December 1944; watched 2023w36 via Criterion Channel)

Heretofore unknown evocative – especially the snow, both in NYC and on the fateful train journey there – and provocative (it was GASLIGHT at the same time as GASLIGHT and is, for me, the more interesting telling of a similar theme) offering from one of my favorite directors, Jacques Tourneur (CAT PEOPLE / OUT OF THE PAST). Excellent performances throughout, especially from the trinity of leads George Brent, Paul Lukas, and the luminous Hedy Lamarr (if anyone could be believable as someone everyone falls in love with, it's Lamarr); and, while PERILOUS isn't the seminal work that those films are (it's a little too saccharine for my taste in its tacked-on happy coda), it is, as with most of Tourneur's work, time well spent.

1970s Shadow “Crime Fighter” toys, ctd.

in

Finally added this piece to my collection of the delightfully strange and anachronistic 1970s Madison SHADOW toys – because every 1930s crime fighter needs a programmed 'computerized' 1970s supercar (the box was split and opened long ago; just glad to have it):

Think I've only a few pieces left to go – a large copter, jet, and costume, IIRC – but here's a shot of this mini-collection inside The Collection as it stands now:

(Who knows what evil revs in the hearts of men?)

I FORSEE THE DARK AHEAD, IF I STAY – Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble

in

Been a fan for years; this album's been a wonderful path to rediscovering their hypnotic soundscapes. On heavy workblock rotation of late.

wolves run across a foggy woods

corpse pose

in

Article link is behind WaPo’s paywall, but I’ve shared it as a gift link, so it should be accessible. And what a gift it is.

... the group of seven yogis in a class held Wednesday inside a cafe in Lincolnshire, England, were finally in shavasana, a position at the end of a yoga class — sometimes called corpse pose — where people sink into a meditative state by lying on their backs.


For 30 minutes, they resembled corpses as the instructor, Millie Laws, 22, banged on a shamanic drum inside a room lit only by the golden glow of candlelight. The scene was meant to be relaxing — but for a couple walking their dog outside the building, it resembled something far more sinister.


“They reported to the police that they’d seen somebody walking around in a room lit up with candles and what looked like dead people lying all over the floor,” Laws told The Washington Post. “The couple thought it was some sort of ritual mass killing.”