I'm still on the fence, too, though I would love to come and visit with my friends, plus any new folks who can find me.  Just bear in mind that the crowds are HUGE, especially in the main rooms--you'll be amazed that there are that many Dark Shadows fans who live and walk the earth.

John, hope I can see you there!

G.

I would have loved to have seen Gale Sondergaard appear in DS, hopefully in a role that would have required her to have had some juicy scenes opposite Grayson and Joan.  According to KLS, not a terribly reliable source, Gale visited the set one day and DC talked about wanting to have her on the show--it may have all just been a joke.  Gale did play a wonderful DS-esque part in one of my favorite 70s telefilms, The Cat Creature, directed by queen bee Curtis Harrington.  (WHEN will it be released on home VHS???)

A lot of the Forties horror stars would have been great guests on DS.  Think of Elizabeth Russell, for example--"moya sestra" in Cat People.

G.

Thank you for posting this, Luciaphil.  I am excited by this project.  Today's Pagan community is divided on evaluations of the original Wicker man.  Some regard it as a blasphemous caricature of Pagan spirituality; others regard it as a fascinating artistic exploration of light and dark aspects of surviving Neolithic religions in a modern context.  I saw the restored DVD a few months ago, and was impressed by it.  As I see it, the point of the original film was a critique of "varieties of religious experience" and the role of religion in human social life.  I really loved the music, especially the Maypole song.  There's an interesting new book out by British scholar Miranda Green, Dying for the God, about human sacrifice amongst the Celtic peoples.  It is very difficult to document the practices, role, and beliefs around human sacrifice. Green points out that the Roman writers, who were so critical of the "barbarism" of Druid sacrifices, had their own skeletons rattling around in their closets on this issue.  In the Wicker Man, Robin Hardy makes a similar kind of statement by presenting the *symbolic* sacrifice of the Mass at the beginning of the film, counterpointed with terrible irony by the literal sacrifice at the end.

Having said all that, "May Day" could be just plain awful, but I'm hoping it will be done with wit and intelligence.  There was talk of Ewan Macgregor participating in it.  He would look beautiful clad in nothing but a stag-horn headdress.  sigh.

G.

OK, I just took a look at the capture on the montage, and I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that this is NOT a young Grayson Hall.  It just bears no resemblance to her, and the young pictures of her I have seen have a very different style from this.  I actually thought it looked like a headshot of a younger Lisa Richards.

just my two drachmae,

Steve

Thanks, MB.  Well, the quiz was fun.  I didn't answer the oral/anal question.  It would have been nice if they had had a setting for "versatile."

The little sign under your name is now informing me, in addition to my ISP code and browser status, that "there is no spoon."

I think the ghost of Douglas Adams is haunting you.  Either that, or you're a Zen monk in your spare time these days.

btw--you're not thinking of going to NYC for the big do-do, are you?

G.

Well, I almost never take these things, but you've goaded me into it.  I didn't answer some of the questions because, frankly, they were idiotic (that whole mouse thing at the end eluded me).  This is what it came up with:

POLITICIAN
(Dominant Extrovert Abstract Thinker)

 Like just 5% of the population you are a POLITICIAN (DEAT)--forceful, outgoing, and forward-looking. You are strong-willed and extroverted, so you enjoy interacting with other people. You aggressively pursue your goals.

Your creative style of thinking allows you to come up with unusual arguments and original ideas that appeal to others, but behind it all is an analytical mind that never forgets the bottom line. While some might see you as manipulative, your close friends know you are a talented person who deserves the best in life.

Whatever. You *are* manipulative. Whether you use your power for "good" or "bad", it's up to you. If you're confused what good or bad means, ask a HEALER. Like EXPERIMENTERS, you have a propensity for cheating.

btw, I think statements that begin with such phrases as "like 5 % of the population" can be described as spin, pure and simple.

There's another word to describe these statements, but it's more appropriate to a barnyard than a civilised forum such as this.

And, OK, so I only shook your hand, but I have very good instincts about these things--trust me, darling.

G.

My most darling Mysterioso, you may have the brain of a hot shot programmer and the hands of a lover, but I have it on good authority that you have the soul of a poet.

Your admirer,

Gothick

Well, the voting seems to have ended, but I would have gone for Leona Eltridge.  Not only is she a regular scream, I've always been convinced that "she" was really "he," which means I might have actually GOTTEN somewhere with my "Ms. Ideal Ghoul."  (I know I'm a sick puppy...)

In terms of acting, the 1967 Laura wins, hands down.  I just packed my DS tapes and I have some episodes from her storyline as aired on Sci Fi that I haven't watched yet.  I'm looking forward to watching those once I'm moved.  "New" DS episodes are always wonderfully soothing to my frayed nerves.

G.