John Kendrick - The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall (1891) A man comes up with an ingenious solution when the family ghost haunts him one time too many. Always a favorite and definitely worth an ethereal re-posting every Halloween season.

Weapons (dir by Zach Cregg) (2025) Opening scene to the film. No spoilers here. Fantastic story. Small kids in jeopardy? Ineffective parents? A sinister distant relative? Roald Dahl would’ve loved this movie.

Banksy - Girl with Red Balloon (2006) and Banksy - Love Is in the Bin (2018) Moments after his 2006 painting sold at Sotheby’s for $1.4 million in 2018, impish Banksy, much to the horror of the attendees, secretly tripped a device built into the frame; the new piece later sold for $25.3 million.

Giovanni Martinelli - Death Comes to the Banquet Table (c. 1630) With a spent hourglass in one hand and another pulling out the chair, Death is hungry, too. Denial, anger, surprise. Death’s target is so young. The artist depicting a nearby dish with only one slice missing is no accident.

Unknown Lombard Artist - Cats Singing, Directed by an Owl (c. 1700) Apparently, every century has their own variation on Cassius Marcellus Coolidge’s 1894 classic “Dogs Playing Poker.”

Duran Duran - Secret Oktober (1983) In my Top 100.

Scott Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag (1899)

Uncle Vic - Space Invaders (1980) You had to have been alive then to appreciate how addictive (and omnipresent) this arcade entry was in the dawn of electronic gaming. It pre-dated Pac-Man, I think.

Tom “T-Bone” Stankus - Existential Blues (1980) Another Dr. Demento classic. Oz references galore.

Bradley Kincaid - Ain’t We Crazy? (1963) Cover of the 1928 Harry McClintock original. This song was a staple on The Dr. Demento Show.

The Cowsills - Mister Flynn (1968) The real-life inspiration for The Partridge Family…save for the Mondrianesque schoolbus.

Tony Orlando and Dawn - Knock Three Times (1970)

U2 - Even Better Than the Real Thing (dir by Kevin Godley) (1992)

Roy Lichtenstein - Masterpiece (1962) Is Zip-A-Tone art? Warhol had Campbell’s Soup cans. Lichtenstein instead dabbled in the look of the modern comic strip, isolating a panel from any larger context, imbuing it with great kinetic energy. Also featured: Pop (1966), and Sweet Dreams, Baby! (1965)

Videodrome (dir by David Cronenberg) (1983) Long love the new flesh. Definitely not for children, but definitely compulsory viewing for horror and sci-fi aficionados.

Network (dir by Sidney Lumet) (1976) Beatrice Straight won an Oscar for less than five minutes of screen time as a wife who discovers her husband’s infidelity. Amazing talent.

Star Wars (dir by George Lucas) (1977) Seeing this film after many years, Guinness’ subtle performance stands out more than before…every bit worth the Oscar nom he got. It didn’t hurt that he also negotiated for 2.25%—a lifetime total of $95m—of the film’s gross for twenty minutes of screentime.

Duran Duran - My Own Way (Night Version) (1982) The time when the band veered dangerously close to disco.

Tom Lehrer - Silent E (1960) Though primarily a witty musical satirist in the world of politics, Lehrer, also a teacher, created a few educational songs for young kids. (Unfortunately, I’ve no idea who the illustrator/director is for this ‘70s visual adaptation.) He passed recently. RIP, sir.

David Bowie - Fame (1975) An immortal classic. John Lennon, pictured here, co-wrote the lyrics and sang backup locals for the song. An unofficial instrumental track, but still rather glorious…. because Bowie.

The Black Ghiandola (dir by Catherine Hardwicke, Theodore Melfi, and Sam Raimi) (2017) Dying from cancer, sixteen-year-old Anthony Conti’s wish was to write and star in a short film. Dozens of industry professionals donated their time, and, with Make-A-Wish’s help, made it happen for Anthony.

Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher (1997) Here’s Florence Henderson with Marilyn Manson debating religion. The ‘90s were so random. So. Very. Random.

Pietro Longhi - The Rhinoceros (1751) This is one of a few paintings that show a moretta mask. In addition to protecting the noble’s fair skin from the sun, this strapless item was held in place by a button clenched in the wearer’s teeth, rendering them mute, giving them an extra air of mystery.

Rod Stewart - Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? (1978) No, Rod Stewart. No. Stewart’s persona kind of creeps me out, but I will give him this: some of his songs are pretty darn catchy.

NBC - Friday Night Videos (1983-2000) Very-late-night music video show on broadcast TV, initially created for those pitiful Gen-X poors whose households hadn’t yet been blessed with glorious MTV…

Coast Telecourses - Universe: The Infinite Frontier (1994) For personal reasons, I’ve a special place in my heart for this 26–episode telecourse series. Warning: as a several-decades-old science program, some of the information—and almost all of the fashion—might be quite dated.

Guilty Pleasure #4269: IKEA Heights (2009) Salacious evening soap operas like Melrose Place were a big thing couple of decades ago. A group of enterprising young folks decided to parody the genre using in-store displays at IKEA, much to the puzzlement of actual shoppers in the background…

Air Supply - The One That You Love (dir unknown) (1981)

George Handel - Ombra Mal Fu (from Serse) (1738) Countertenor Andreas Scholl performs masterfully in this 1999 recording. Fact: a countertenor has the highest vocal range of any male singer (save for the castrato, whose surgical modification has been illegal since the late 1800s).

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976) Ah, the ‘70s, when being even kinda-sorta-famous got you your very own weekly TV show…or, at least, a one-off holiday variety special. I…have…no…words. Fun fact: this was the first time in nearly forty years Margaret Hamilton reprised her iconic Oz role.

Pink Lady and Jeff (1980) The death knell for the variety show format that flourished in the ‘70s. Featured Japanese superstars Pink Lady, and Jeff, a semi-known TV comic. Pink Lady, knowing no English, spoke all of their lines phonetically. Each episode ended with the cast in a hot tub. Sigh.

The Captain and Tennille Show (1976-77) Ah, the ‘70s, when being even kinda-sorta-famous got you your very own weekly TV show…or, at least, a one-off holiday variety special. Featured guests for this episode: Charlie’s Angels (?!?)

The Electric Company (1971-77) A staple of children’s educational programming back in the ‘70s. Though not as iconic as Sesame Street, it tended to be more kinetic and boundary-pushing than its bigger sibling. Featured 1961 Oscar Winner Rita Moreno and future Oscar winner Morgan Freeman.

The Sonny and Cher Show (1971) Ah, the ‘70s, when being even kinda-sorta-famous got you your very own weekly TV show…or, at least, a one-off holiday variety special. Sonny Bono was Cher’s second husband, and this was Michael Jackson’s first nose.

The Brady Bunch Variety Hour (1976) Ah, the ‘70s, when being even kinda-sorta l-famous got you your very own weekly TV show…or, at least, a one-off holiday variety special. This one got one season. Long live Fake Jan.

Kung Fu Fighting - The Tony Orlando and Dawn Show (1974) Ah, the ‘70s, when being even kinda-sorta l-famous got you your very own weekly TV show…or, at least, a one-off holiday variety special. This one got three (!) seasons.

Duran Duran - Is There something I Should Know? (Monster Mix)

Charles Addams - The Addams Family (1952) God bless cartoonist Charles Addams, whose groundbreaking strip in The New Yorker launched a million delightfully macabre ships, so to speak.

John Carpenter - Laurie’s Theme (from the Halloween II OST) (1981) In honor of all of the Halloween merch in stores now (in mid-August)… The idea of Laurie being related to Michael was first introduced in this sequel, but then was discarded entirely in the final (?) trilogy.

Eddington (dir by Ari Aster) (2025) Described by Aster as a “modern Western.” Two bigwigs in a small town fight it out politically during COVID. Things go very badly. Was worried that Aster had gone soft until major head trauma started happening in the third act. That’s our Ari. Recommended.

Dorothea Redmond - The Haunted Mansion (1960s) Redmond, a WED Imagineer in the 1960s, contributed a number of concept art pieces for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion. Some ideas clearly had an influence, while others—notably a dungeon and a cellar—were entirely discarded.

The Animals - House of the Rising Sun (1964) The enigmatic original version…

Ralph McQuarrie - Star Tours Destination Posters (1986) Excepts from a larger series of Star Wars Episodes V-VI preproduction concept paintings repurposed as destination posters for Disneyland’s Star Tours attraction.

Leonard Bernstein - Overture (from the Candide OST) (1956) Great intro piece for a Broadway production that initially didn’t do very well; it (the play) has since found its footing after several re-workings over the last few decades. The music, however, was a hit with audiences from the start.

Bernard Herrmann - Prelude from Vertigo (1959) The first page from the iconic score in the composer’s own hand. The context:

Vilhelm Hammershøi - Interior with Young Woman from Behind (1903-04) Why is this art? Why do we not see her face? Why such nondescript surroundings, save for the ornate pot? What might be inferred about the subject’s mood? Position in society? What do you think is the artist’s opinion of her?

Copycat (dir by Jon Amiel) (1995) An expert on serial killers is hunted by a new one on the scene. IIRC, test audiences’ positive reactions to the onscreen chemistry between the two leads, Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter, prompted studio talk of a sequel. Great Christopher Young score BTW.

John Denver - Sunshine on My Shoulders (1973) Special memories connected with this one.

Arcadia - Rose Arcana (Extended) (1985) Included on So Red the Rose only as a thirty-second except, the band originally released this full (extended) version on one of their 12” remix LPs. SRTR is one of my favorite albums, though I’ll never ever tell anyone why.

Egid Quirin Asam - The Assumption of Mary (1717) This massive work is housed in Bavaria, Germany. There’s Rococo, and then there’s super-Rococo that piles flourish upon flourish. No wonder the stark, clean era of Neoclassicism came next. Each art movement is always a reaction to the last.