These are the Five Moons, five Native American ballerinas who were all active at the same time; though they performed separately, each danced at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. From left in the photo below, they are Maria & Marjorie Tallchief, Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin & Yvonne Chouteau.

This is Deb Haaland, American politician and member of the Laguna Pueblo. Elected the same time as Sharice Davids, Haaland was one of the first two Native American women to be seated in the U.S. Congress, as representative for New Mexico's 1st district. #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

This is Stephen Graham Jones, member of the Piegan Blackfeet and author of more than 30 novels and novellas, a large assortment of short stories, and one comic book series so far. He frequently writes in the horror genre with Native American protagonists. 🧵 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

Most of these are from the week before; this hasn't really been a movie-watching week for me. Resident Evil is increasingly ridiculous but still kind of fun. Hellboy's aesthetic was great; a little polish on the plot could have elevated it significantly. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

I was going to post another Native American Heritage Month profile today, but I got home so late, it would be the middle of the night for most of the U.S. by the time it got up. I feel like "burying" a profile that way would be disrespectful. So instead I'll double up on another day.

This is musician and songwriter Robbie Robertson, member of the Mohawk Nation and Cayuga descendant. Most famous as the guitarist of rock group The Band, he had a long career as a band member, solo artist, and film music producer. 🧵 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

This is Dave Anderson. He's famous. More precisely, he's the founder of the Famous Dave's barbecue restaurant chain. A citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and descendant of the Choctaw Nation, he launched the chain in 1994. 🧵 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

This is Elizabeth Peratrovich, also known as Ḵaax̲gal.aat, a member of the Tlingit Nation. Born in 1911 in Alaska, her activism would play a key role in forming anti-discrimation laws in the United States. 🧵 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

This is Billy Mills, also known as Tamakhóčhe Theȟíla, a member of the Oglala Lakota nation. A college cross-country athlete with a degree in physical education, Mills surprised Olympics fans by upsetting the favorites to win the 10,000 meter event in 1964. 🧵 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

This is actor Wes Studi, member of the Cherokee Nation. Perhaps the most recognized Native American actor working today, Studi made his debut in a TV movie, "The Trial of Standing Bear", and had his breakout role in 1992 as Mague in "The Last of the Mohicans". 🧵 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

Today is November 1, the first day of Native American Heritage Month. Each day I am going to try to highlight a famous or historically significant Native American and give a brief bio. But I'd like to say a few words on why I'm doing this first. 🧵 #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #NAHM

Happy Halloween! Got somewhere between 25-30 trick-or-treaters this year, which is maybe just a bit higher than normal for this neighborhood. Even had one group of 9 kids; not sure if they all started out together or if there was just a trick-or-treat traffic jam at my house. #Halloween 🧵

I wasn't planning on buying any new Halloween deco this year, especially not this late in the season, but this guy was totally worth the $4.

Can't carve this year (rat infestation, don't want to feed them), so I thought I'd share my pumpkins from 2022-2024. I like doing cartoon chars (Creeper from Scooby-Doo, My Pet Monster, and Count Duckula) & heads for my pumpkin zombie stand, Undead Fred. I design all the patterns myself. #Halloween

Honestly not that great a film week for me. A couple duds that were nearly DNFs. Frankenstein was OK but fell short of being good thanks to being a bit thin on content. FD3… it's OK. The kills are still goofy fun. But I'm losing interest. 🧵 #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

Repost with a "Halloween" movie that's not a typical Halloween movie. 🎃 Arsenic and Old Lace

@sammyhain.bsky.social mentioned low-effort Halloween fast food promotions and I remembered I had this photo. This is a treat sheet from Bob's Burger Express, from back when the chain was still pretty popular, but the photo was from a short-lived one-location revival in Eugene. 🧵

This makes sense coming from the guy whose son monitors his porn consumption

All in all a good week in the land of horror. "Land of the Dead" was better than I anticipated; "Children of the Damned" is more retread than sequel, but still OK. "The Fly" is a truly successful remake (the original was good too). #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

I need to make a run to the dump later this week, so I bought a tarp today. I also have a rodent problem, so I bought rat poison too. I decided not to buy Halloween candy today; thought that might be a bad look all together.

Last 3 were all actually yesterday. The Re-Animator and Jungle Woman trilogies both felt like they'd run their course with these films. Addams despite the orig. cast didn't feel very classic. Ghosts was fun; East Side Kids are surprisingly entertaining. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

Being honest, this week was straight-up schlock & none of it was surprising. House of Wax was the exception, almost a 4 star film for me. Crab Monsters was fun. Hillbilllys was my first RiffTrax film (longtime MST3k fan); even they couldn't make it good. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

I have things I should be doing but my music shuffle keeps popping up "don't skip" songs.

Since many of us are cancelling streaming services, I want to post a little reminder that many library cards will allow you free access to Kanopy, an amazing streaming channel. If your library card doesn't work, you can often sign up for other libraries in your region.

There are many problems with having little money, and nearly all of them are bigger than the one I'm going to mention now. But I do find it irritating that it's hard to "vote with my wallet". I'd've had a Disney+ account, and canceled it with these events, if I hadn't already done so to save money.

Roku just added "All Star Hulu/ESPN/Disney+ Bundle" to their home screen menu today, in one of the more spectacular failures to read the room that I've seen. (Naturally I immediately went into settings and hid it. I would anyway, I hate ads. But this time I meant it even more than usual.)

Kind of a middling week. Nothing too great, nothing too bad. All camp, really. Abbott & Costello are always fun; this one's equally appropriate for Halloween (a light one), U.S. Independence Day, and Washington's Birthday. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

The school I work for provides laptops for students to use. Sometimes the students have to be discouraged from playing games. That's not surprising. What's surprising is that several of them have been playing Snake. Updated graphics, but still the same game from the late 70s / early 80s.

I saw this Twilight Zone episode for the first time just two weeks ago. Redford was so young in it I didn't even recognize him at first. I can only hope we all get a Mr. Death as kind and gentle as Redford's portrayal, and can't think of a more fitting tribute image. (Fave Redford film: Sneakers).

A couple comedy rewatches to finish off the summer. Then, as I've got way too many horror movies slated for the season to fit them all in October, I'm starting with them now. I'll probably still watch Scream 6, but man, 5 made continuing a tough call. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

Drop an old person you're going to turn into in the future.

It's always a pleasure to see Graham Greene make an appearance in film or TV; he's one of the all time great character actors, someone who really could capture the whole range of acting. Sad to see him go. Thanks for Maximus, Skully, Malachi, and all the others.

In classic "read it before I heard it" fashion, I've just learned I've been mispronouncing "sycophant" my entire life. I'm tempted to keep the "wrong" pronunciation, partly because it makes more sense and partly because the situation practically begs a person to be contrary.

From "Where's Dean Jones" to "Where's Harrison Ford". Last of figuring out which Herbie film from childhood was which; weakest of them but OK. Liked Brave New World but a bit choppy. Catchfire/Backtrack has a ton of great underutilized character actors. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

Wow, guys I really really needed to see a superhero rise up today. Your ticket to Toxic Avenger will help erase medical debt

Currently: Vampire Movie: The Lost Boys Werewolf: The Wolf Man Ghost: Ghostbusters Slasher: Halloween Folk Horror: The Wicker Man (1973) Giant Monster: Godzilla Minus One Zombie: Night of the Living Dead Horror Comedy: The Comedy of Terrors Alien: Yes, that's correct. #Filmsky

A couple sequels and a couple spins of the roulette wheel. "The Haunted Strangler" was good Karloff fun. "The Dead Pool" completes Dirty Harry's lionization from dirty cop to hero cop. "Beau Travail" was not finished; way too dull, tapped out halfway. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

"I don't care what anyone says, I like that movie."

Comedy kick this week; almost all action-comedy too. Two re-watches. Gave Austin Powers 2 a second chance since when I saw it before I hadn't yet seen AP 1 and I also didn't yet have the context of Matt Helm. But it's still pretty bad. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #Filmsky

Stop scrolling & post two characters who bring you joy & happiness.

I'm updating my digital media's artwork (and occasionally wishing I could do the same with my actual CDs), and it occurred to me that there's a definite parallel between the aesthetic atrocities done to budget CDs, network TV shows with too many "bugs", and website ads (esp. mobile views).

Tom Lehrer has passed away, aged 97. I remember hearing his songs come up while listening to Dr. Demento, and laughing every time, even as a kid. His songs were hilarious, intelligent, insightful, and often dark. A few years ago he put all of them into the public domain. tomlehrersongs.com

It may be odd, but with Ozzy Osbourne dying I keep thinking of Charles Schulz. Schulz passed away as his final comic strip went to press. Ozzy gave some of his last good days saying farewell in a charity benefit concert. There's a sad and triumphant beauty in the artist going out with their art.

I have a simple rule for replying on social media. If it feels like the only natural ending is "you ignorant baboon", I cancel my reply. That way I avoid insulting the many smart people who I may have an honest misunderstanding with. More importantly I avoid wasting time talking to ignorant baboons.

Feeling unreasonably annoyed right now at a movie. I usually give a movie at least an hour to catch my interest in some way: characters, plot, scenery, cinematography, anything. I'm not that picky. I've watched a lot of good films and bad films and fun dumb films that all met this simple criterion.

Hegseth: I'm going to win the "being especially bad at what I do" award with another security leak. Noem: Hold my bag.

RFK Jr.'s deranged remarks about autistic people not being able to do anything have had me thinking about a class on mental health I took in high school. I didn't take it seriously at the time. In fact, my constant wise-cracking had the teacher throwing chairs at the walls several times a week. 🧵

In 2020 Kayleigh McEnany stated Lego Cities and Paw Patrol were removing police characters. Both companies then made press releases to the contrary. To my knowledge, she was the first WH press secretary simultaneously debunked by a toy company and a cartoon. And somehow Leavitt is less credible yet.

Had some visitors the other day! This was right in front of my house. There's a pond about 500 feet from my house, so I'm guessing these two probably are regulars over there, but this is the first time in the 6 years I've lived here that they've been in my front yard.

I love libraries. I love checking out library books. I do not love discovering a previous borrower was eating chocolate or Cheetos. #booksky