God Bless The U.S.A.

 

Donald J. Trump surviving an assassination attempt at a rally he held in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13th, 2024.  This should be what the next issue of Time Magazine should look like.

Eighteenth Annual Ten Commandments Post

Being that time of the year again, I'm posting about my all-time favorite movie - The Ten Commandments once again.  I've seen it so many times that I forget just how many times I have seen it.  But I have to tell you, when this mountain comes on the screen at the opening of the movie, I start getting geared up to see it once again:

Now, most people are used to seeing this logo for the opening of your usual Paramount movie:

But, since the director of The Ten Commandments, Cecil B. De Mille, made epic motion pictures, he got his own customized Paramount logo to open the film:

I can't describe the feeling it gives me, even though I've seen it many times before.  But the title screen comes on and I'm ready for almost a four hour ride once again:

So tune in to ABC, (if they're showing it again this year), or grab your VHS tape, or your DVDs or Bluray discs and join me for the ride.

Those Cheap Old Plastic Cameras

 In my camera collection, there are a few lesser quality cameras that I have found here and there throughout the years.  I guess what attracted people to them in the first place was their "quirky" looks.  Yes, these have designs that are not usually seen in cameras, but you just can't deny that they look interesting in their quirkiness.  Most of these I probably got for a dollar or two, so they weren't worth very much.  And when you use them to take pictures, you find out just why they're not worth much - they don't take very good pictures.

But, nevertheless, these six cameras are part of my collection and I have shot with all six of them.  Marvel at their plastic goodness!  Below each camera is an image taken with that camera:

USC Reflex III

 

 

 Ansco Cadet II

Spartus Rocket

Windsor (Diana Clone)

 Imperial Mark XII Flash

 Bell & Howell BF35

 

 

 

At the very least, you have to say the results are "quaint."

 

Seventeenth Anuual Ten Commandments Post

 

I can't believe it's been almost twenty years and I haven't listed the Ten Commandments themselves, when that's what the movie The Ten Commandments is all about!  So, to rectify this, here they are.  So let it be written, so let it be done.

The Ten Commandments

 

1.  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

 

2.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:  for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.

 

3.  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.

4.  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

5.  Honour thy father and thy mother:  that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

6.  Thou shalt not kill.

7.  Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8.  Thou shalt not steal.

9.  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
 

10.  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

And as an extra bonus, another part of the movie featured the children of Israel observing the first Passover meal.  My church observed it this past Wednesday night, April 5th, 2023, and here is our pastor leading it.  Taken with my little Ansco Disc HR 20 disc camera and black and white film:

So, be sure to not miss the movie this year!

Sixteenth Annual Ten Commandments Post

     Once again, it's that time of year when flowers are blooming out all over, spring rains are flooding my yard, and I'm here to talk about The Ten Commandments once again.  This year, I thought I'd do something a little different for my annual post.  There's so many levels to The Ten Commandments that sometimes the more esoteric facets get overlooked.  Like who were some of that cast of thousands whose name did not make the credits?  Here are a few people who were in the movie that you probably weren't aware of.  Might be good trivia to know.

Mike Connors was listed in the credits, but as "Touch" Connors.  You'll probably remember his as Mannix, the rough and tough private eye.  Well, in the movie he played an Amalekite Goat Herder.  You might not recognize him, as he has a full beard.  He's in the scene where Moses passes out by a well where seven sisters are drawing out water for their sheep.

Another actor you might not recognize because he's not dressed as an indian chief.  Frank DeKova, "Abiram" in this movie, an acquaintance of Edward G. Robinson's character, was more famously known as Chief Wild Eagle on the comedy "F-Troop."

This next actor, although you might not recognize his face, you'll surely recognize his voice.  Henry Corden played one of the Sheiks of Sinai.  If you'll listen closely, he sounds a lot like Fred Flintstone.  That's because he did do the voice of that wacky caveman from Bedrook for a lot of years.

Another actor in the movie you might recognize by his horn playing, except that in this role, he didn't play his usual trumpet.  He actually played a drum.  For many years and many hits, Herb Alpert led his group The Tijuana Brass playing his trumpet.  Later, he founded the successful record company A&M Records.  But, in this movie, he's not playing one of those trumpeters who blast out the signal for the children of Israel to start the Exodus.  He appears during the latter moments of the movie when Moses brings down the ten commandments from Mount Sinai and all the people are partying.  He's the one playing the big, loud drum.

Michaell Ansara is not listed in the credits, but you might recognize him as having played a Klingon that fought with Captain Kirk and the crew while trapped on the Enterprise on the episode "Day Of The Dove."

While talking about Star Trek, one of the lesser crewmen on the Enterprise, D'Amato, was played by Arthur Batanides.  Here he played an uncredited Hebrew at the Golden Calf toward the end of the movie.

Robert Vaughn, who played "Napoleon Solo" in The Man From Uncle, also played a Hebrew at the Golden Calf toward the end of the movie.  Then he spied Moses coming and probably had to cry "uncle."

If you've seen some Disney comedy movies from the 1960s or 1970s, you probably saw Joe Flynn in them.  He played a great part in The Love Bug.  In The Ten Commandments, he played an uncredited bit part.

Robert Fuller, who played Dr. Kelly Brackett on "Emergency!" played another uncredited extra.  I'm pretty sure the character he played wasn't in the medical field, though.

Alfred Hitchcock's daughter, Patricia (Pat), played an Egyptian court lady.  No cameo by Alfred, though.

Carl Switzer, better known as "Alfalfa" from the Our Gang shorts, played another one of the multitude of slaves in the movie.  Most of the characters in The Ten Commandments were slaves, in case you didn't catch that.

And also in case you didn't know it, as it went unlisted in the credits of the movie, The voice of God was played by none other than the star of the movie, Charlton Heston.  His son, Fraser, also got in on the act and played the baby Moses.

Here's to another year of The Ten Commandments!  And remember, "Those who shall not live by the law, shall die by law."  One of my favorite lines from the movie - from the scene shown below which I took a picture of last night from the television screen:

Samsung Film In A Samsung Camera

I had this brilliant idea to shoot some old Samsung Prime Color 400 film in one of my Samsung point and shoot 35mm film cameras. The only problem I could foresee having was that said film was long-expired and you can't adjust the film speed setting on the camera to compensate for this. It can only sense the film speed by reading the DX code on the film cannister and setting the camera's sensor for only that speed. But, I found out that you can "fool" the camera into thinking the film is whatever speed you want to shoot it at by changing the DX code on the film cartridge. So, that's what I did. I made the camera think it was shooting 50 ISO speed film instead of the 400 film it actually was. The expirement was a success and here are a few shots from that roll:

 

Here's when the pictures were taken:

 

Camera:  Samsung Maxima Zoom 105 Ti
Lens:  Samsung SHD Zoom Lens 38-105mm
Film: Samsung Prime Color 400 (expired 05/2013, shot @50 ISO)
Date:  October 31st, 2020
Location:  Norris City, Illinois, U.S.A.

 

And then I developed the film and here's that process:

Developing Chemicals:  Unicolor C-41
Water pre-soak:  1 minute at 102 degrees
Developer:  3 mins. and 30 secs. at 102 degrees
Water rinse:  2 minutes (to keep chemicals clean)
Blix:  6 ½ minutes at 102 degrees
Water rinse:  2 minutes at approx. 102 degrees
Stabilizer:  1 minute at room temperature
Water rinse:  2 minutes
Kodak Photo-Flo 200:  1 minute

Fifteenth Annual Ten Commandments Post

 

 Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments will be back in the theaters for it's 65th anniversary.  It will be showing on Sunday, March 28th, Wednesday, March 31st and Sunday, April 4, 2021.  I remember seeing it in the theaters for it's 10th anniversary re-release, back in 1966.  And of course it became my favorite movie of all time.  I will again be watching it here at home on Easter Sunday night, like I always do.  And I'm looking forward to it once again for yet another year.

My family watched it every Easter when it was broadcast on ABC television and we always had ham for that holiday.  I am keeping that tradition alive and will have ham again while I watch the movie.  It's an exciting time for me because I've done it for so many years.  So, grab yourself some pork and be sure to watch it, too!

Here is a multiple-exposure picture I took of the television screen when I watched it back on Sunday, April 6th, 1980: