2/28/2007

This is the last day of February- and , no, it’s NOT a Leap Year- Leap Year has 29 February days. The next one will occur next year, 2008. My research says that a Leap Year occurs every four years- unless the year ends in 00- in which case only if the year is divisible by 400. Since I’m already confused, let’s drop the subject and leap into… …news about a horror hosting legend! Last weekend, Fangoria magazine brought their horror convention to Chicago (let’s not confuse this with the annual summer horror event- Flashback Weekend- which I have been a guest at, and – good news- will be a guest at again this August- they already have me booked!) I was not in attendance at this past week’s Fango convention-but- I DID appear at it, in a way (unless my participation ended up on the cutting room floor)- they had a screening of a new documentary about the famous 1950s horror movie hostess out in Los Angeles- Vampira! You know her best as the impossibly- thin-waisted ghoul woman in a Sven favorite- Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space!” She hit it big as a horror movie hostess back during the first wave of hosted horror movies- when Universal first released its fight films to television stations in the 50s. The trend was to have them hosted by an on-camera ghoul of some sort…here in Chicago it was Terry Bennett’s “Marvin” character on channel 7. Just like Elvira (whom she actually sued, claiming she had stolen her act!) Maila Nurmi- Vampira- who was born in Finland-was in the right place –the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles/Hollywood –and was a favorite of the stars and moguls out there, who appreciated her act. She got world-wide publicity, thanks to magazines like Newsweek and Life. Her show supposedly lasted less than two seasons! The documentary- named “Vampira: the Movie”- tells her story, with quotes from the woman herself (yes, she’s still around!)-plus other horror hosts- even Cassandra Peterson, Elvira, law suit or not - plus “Famous Monsters” grand old man, Forrest Ackerman. If you saw the movie, let me know if I was in it! With or without me, it’s got to be pretty interesting… And, if it IS without me, be calm- there’s a guy who has been working on a documentary about me (I’ll pause while you all ask-“why?!”) for a while now. You may have even seen him at some of my appearances. He’s still working on it (no doubt, waiting to find something interesting about me)- and I’ll let you know when it’s ready for human consumption. Meanwhile, Tombstone is planning his own documentary on himself, titled “Still a Bonehead After All These Years”…