Heavy Metal Sunday loves a good Turkey!

In this case, it's not the song, but the video.

Iron Maiden's Run to the Hills, released on 1982's The Number of the Beast, is possibly their biggest hit and one of the most enduring songs in Heavy Metal. The story of the Indian Wars of the 19th century told from several points of view; this song is a serious look at a dark period of American history.

Since this was the dawn of the music video age, it was decided that a video was needed to accompany the single's release. There were a couple of problems though. Early videos were dominated by the New Wave acts who were far more video friendly, Maiden had a strict time limit due to touring obligations, and nobody really understood how to handle the very stage-centered look of a heavy metal act. So Maiden shot the concert footage at their tour rehearsal stage and went on tour understanding that some stock footage of Indians and Cavalry would be added.

Alas, the video's director chose to use footage from The Uncovered Wagon, a 1923 spoof of westerns that was pure slapstick. The band, who first saw the video weeks after its release on MTV, were reportedly ready to kill the director. However, due to contractual obligations, they could not pull the video. Needless to say, they kept a closer eye on their next few videos.

The video was remade in the early part of this decade, with a computer animated Eddie replacing all the movie shots, but that version is just cheesy.. we want the original Turkey:

And now, dessert:

"The West Wing - In Excelsis Deo" (Watch on YouTube)

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

TV meme

List the first ten series that come to mind.
Your friends will comment with the character from each series that they think you are most like. REMEMBER THIS IS WHO I'M MOST LIKE, NOT MY FAVORITES.

1. Babylon 5
2. Law & Order
3. The West Wing
4. WKRP in Cincinnati
5. Star Trek (any version)
6. CSI
7. Stargate SG-1
8. The Deadliest Catch
9. ER
10. Battlestar Galactica (new)

It's the arts.

And now the history of the nude in my bed. Been a while since I updated on what I've been watching and reading.

( Movies )

( Books )

So, what have y'all been reading or watching recently?

Crashlanding. Now with "increase gravy" link!

I lied. Prime need in bold.

Increase population http://crashlanding.myminicity.com

Increase industry http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/ind

Improve the transport network http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/tra

Increase security http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/sec

Improve environment http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/env

Increase business http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/com

Sudden thought.

The Joker is one of the most enduring villains in comics, hjaving plagued the DC universe since 1940. I was suddenly hit with an idea while reading something else.

One thing about the Joker is that he is not buff. Indeed, most portrayals have him being thin unto being cadaverous; yet he has survived multiple bouts of hand to hand combat with the Batman with no long term injuries, and has even fought actual metahumans (including Superman) and not only survived but shown no long term effects. He's also insane. The Joker's schemes run from the silly to the deadly, and he himself is shown as not knowing much about his past.

I have a theory. The vat of chemicals that bleached the Joker's skin also gave him a healing factor that makes Wolverine look like a piker. The Joker's body is constantly rebuilding itself.. including his brain. Normal people have fairly stable brain structures, with new connections being made only when necessary. The Joker is constantly rebuilding, which results in muddled memories and a short-circuited decision making process. The one thing that does stick in his head is that he wasn't always this way and Batman is to blame.

The Joker may well be immortal. Short of actually blowing him up or burning the body in a crematoria, he'll heal and come back to Gotham time after time (indeed, at times he may not remember there is anything outside of Gotham.)

So, what happens when Batman retires/dies? Let's ignore comic time-shifting for a minute. If Batman got his start in the late 30s, he's crime fighting career would have been over by 1960 at the latest. One would assume that Robin would take over the mantle, but after that? The Joker needs a focus, he needs someone to blame. So he'd pick another hero who was superficially like Batman and make him his archenemy. In time, the Joker would even come to truly believe that the new hero was the original one who pitched him into that vat.

I like this idea. It gives a nice tinge of horror to the character.