Hello!

Fearless leader Joe Dante offers this vitally important link to an issue of paramount importance in these tension-filled times:

What else?  It’s none other than the big 2022 T-Rex Race, held at the Emerald Downs race track in Washington State. A 2019 race ‘went viral;’ rumors that it started the Pandemic have not been fully confirmed.

I’m as flabbergasted by this as anyone — those flip-floppy dinos are awfully clever. If they’re really tie-in toys for the Jurassic Park franchise, you can bet that Steven Spielberg signed off on them personally. Joe Dante reminded us of the original wobbly Maninsuitasaurs from 1948’s Unknown Island — and opined that they weren’t any better than these, only different.

What’s fun to see in the video is all the ‘dino impersonators’ really getting into their roles. There may be nothing to learn from this fun madness, but here’s the web page where potential participants were directed. And here’s a page about the inflatable costume itself, awareness of which has until now escaped me entirely. $50 at Amazon will take you right back to your Jurassic roots. Or if you’re a Creationist, is it Cretaceous?

Correspondent Jonathan Gluckman sends along this page dedicated to Los Angeles Theaters. That just about says it — it’s an illustrated, informative guide to the city’s movie theaters existing and historical, illustrated in full detail. They’re arranged in about 20 different categories and listed individually — there must be a couple of hundred individual entries.

At first it looks like something a stranger to town might be able to employ, but much of this page is news to me as well:  I’d have been The Guy to talk to if you needed to know where the hot places to see terrific movies were in 1975. It’s also a good guide to see the status of theaters vis-à-vis COVID shutdown status — some have reopened, most not. For instance, here’s the page’s direct link to the Vista Theater, which has recently been in the news.

Correspondent David J. Show forwards this arresting bit of YouTube amazement from a Vancouver-based artist: Mimi Choi  really has trompe l’oeil down pat. The clip is self-explanatory: How Mimi Choi’s Facial Illusions Come Together.

They are incredibly impressive.  It takes a minute or so to stop assuming that digital trickery is involved. Nope, it’s completely makeup and face paint!  For more brain-spinning fun, here’s a Mimi Choi Halloween Tutorial from 2020.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson