The following DVD’s are currently on sale at Books From A Rose:

Lou Ferrigno & The Incredible Hulk

 

Louis “Lou” Jude Ferrigno (born November 9, 1951) is an American bodybuilder and actor. Ferrigno has appeared in such television series and movies as The Incredible Hulk (playing David Banner’s bulky alter ego, the Hulk), the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron, European-produced fantasy-adventures including Sinbad of the Seven Seas and Hercules, and most recently in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man. He is best known for playing the Hulk, but more recently had a recurring role, as himself, in the sitcom The King of Queens.

After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1969, Ferrigno won his first major titles, IFBB Mr. America and IFBB Mr. Universe, four years later. In 1974, he came in second on his first attempt at the Mr. Olympia competition. He then came third the following year, and his attempt to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger was the subject of the 1975 documentary Pumping Iron. Following this, Ferrigno left the competition circuit for many years, a period that included a stint as a defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.

25th Anniversary Edition

Ferrigno competed in the first World’s Strongest Man contest in 1977, where he finished fourth in a field of eight competitors. While competing, Ferrigno regularly went to see a physician who checked up on whether he was doing damage to his body.

First Season 1978

Ferrigno signed up with Universal Studios in 1977 for the title role opposite Bill Bixby as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk. Richard Kiel was hired for the series first, and scenes were filmed. It was quickly determined he was not muscular enough, and Ferrigno was signed. One quick shot of Kiel remains in the pilot movie. Although he did not share a line with Bixby on the set (except for one episode, “King of the Beach”), the two were friends. Ferrigno continued playing the Hulk role until 1981, although the last two episodes were not broadcast until May 1982. Later, he and Bixby co-starred in three The Incredible Hulk TV movies. There were major talks of another movie, The Rebirth of The Incredible Hulk, but due to Bixby’s death, the project never went beyond the earliest stages of development. Ferrigno continued to keep in touch with Bixby until his death on November 21, 1993. Ferrigno attended Bixby’s funeral in California.

During competition, the 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Ferrigno’s contest weight was 285 lb (130 kg) in 1975, and 316 lb (143 kg) in 1992; he was one of the tallest

Second Season DVD

professional bodybuilders at that time.

In the early 1990s, Ferrigno returned to bodybuilding, competing for the 1992 and 1993 Mr. Olympia titles. Finishing 12th and 10th, respectively, he then turned to the Masters Olympia, coming second in 1994 to Robby Robinson. After this, he retired from competition.

He made a cameo in the 2003 film Hulk as a security guard and was in one deleted scene. He has also done guest appearances and advertisements.

Complete Third Season

He again appeared as a security guard in 2008’s feature film The Incredible Hulk as well as voicing the Hulk. Furthermore, Ferrigno has been the favorite choice to play the voice of the Hulk in several animated adaptations as well as in the most recent film after being publicly offered at the 2008 New York Comic Con by The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier.

Carla Ferrigno told Reuters that her husband had been helping Michael Jackson train in advance of his 2009-2010 concerts at the time of his death. Jackson and Ferrigno have worked together in the past.

Only $39.99

Akko (ou Acre) fica pertinho de Haifa, um pouco mais ao norte. É uma das cidades mais antigas desses lados de cá. Além de outros jardins Bahá’í (na verdade, algo como a sede da religião fica ali, não em Haifa), Akko tem vários sítios arqueológicos e uma parte antiga muito bacana. As fotos deste post foram todas tiradas na Cidade Velha. Você pode ler mais a respeito AQUI. Clique nas imagens para vê-las ampliadas, sim?

Muitos árabes por lá. Uma senhora dentro da van que pegamos reclamando do trânsito, em árabe, e o motorista concordando com ela na mesma língua. Como eu sabia que reclamavam do trânsito? Automobile isso, automobile aquilo.

Segundo a Wikipédia (não tenho nada melhor à mão), alguns historiadores gregos se referiram à cidade como “Ake”, isto é, “cura”. É que de acordo com um mito grego, o bom e velho Héracles (Hércules, para os  romanos e para telespectadores do SBT) teria encontrado por ali algumas ervas medicinais que ajudaram a curar alguns ferimentos. Só não me pergunte onde e como ele se machucou. Isso eu ainda não consegui saber. Não me lembro dele passando por aqui quando se perfazia com seus famigerados doze trabalhos. Alguém?

O SBT reprisava duas vezes por mês o filme “Hércules”, uma produção Z protagonizada pelo Lou Ferrigno, o eterno (?) Hulk da série de TV. Nesta, Bill Bixby era David (Bruce) Banner. Era engraçado ver aquele sujeito enorme,  Ferrigno, provavelmente um pai de família, todo pintado de verde, trajando farrapos e urrando, raivoso. Ah, a infância que (felizmente) não volta mais.

Eu sei que devia estar escrevendo sobre Akko e sobre a viagem, mas, sei lá, deu vontade de falar da série de TV do Hulk. Lembram como era? Clica AQUI, vai. A minha série favorita, dava uma tristeza insana aqui no peito ver o Banner indo de cidade em cidade, fugindo da própria sombra verde. A vida é cruel.

A gente atravessou o shuk (mercado), onde eu comprei um narguilé para o meu irmão e uma taqiyah (aquele chapéu que os muçulmanos usam, parecido com a quipá dos judeus, só que um pouco maior) para o Erwin, e foi dar com os costados aí na marina.

Estávamos varados de fome, mas não comemos porque não havia restaurante kosher à vista. Quero dizer, tinha um restaurante chamado EZRA AND HIS SONS, com uma bandeira de Israel tremulando no telhado, mas não vimos nenhum certificado kosher por ali. Melhor não arriscar.

Logo no começo de “Hércules”, Lou Ferrigno atirava um urso à grande distância. Também era engraçado ver aquela bola de pelo imóvel cruzando os céus da Grécia.

Ok, chega de escrever bobagens.

O Mediterrâneo. Barquinhos lá adiante. Como se nada se movesse.

I thought it was just me. But it’s not. After talking to several of my guy friends (and after seeing He’s Just Not That into You with my wife, which chick flick or not, was a good movie,) I realized it wasn’t just me that had a token pair of Bachelor Pants. Every guy in his singlehood has an awful pair of pants that he’s kept for several years, unaware he is committing a crime. They are typically baggy, have cargo pockets, and are outdated.

The thing with Bachelor Pants is that a man is unaware of how horrible these pants are. In fact, men promote each other’s bad fashion tastes by mimicking what their friends wear. A guy doesn’t want to think about what to wear, so the tendency is to go with what’s comfortable and familiar, by default.

The girlfriend will remain silent about the offensive pants during the dating period, all the while she is plotting a plan to eliminate them from her boyfriend’s wardrobe. Traditionally, she will wait until one month after he proposes until he hears the out-of-nowhere newsflash, “You know you’re not bringing those pants into our house once we’re married…”

My contraband was a pair of brown pants I got in 2006 from a Banana Republic outlet. To fit the stereotype, there were quite baggy and had cargo pockets. Those were my Bachelor Pants. My defense was always, “But I got them from Banana Republic- they can’t be that bad…” They earned the name Potato Sack Pants.

So I made them disappear. By that I mean I hid them in a big bin full of winter coats in the storage closet. After being married now for almost 15 months, I decided to nonchalantly bring my Bachelor Pants out of the archives. To my surprise, I wore them around the house for the last two weekends and my wife didn’t say a word about them. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore: “I’m wearing the Potato Sack Pants. Didn’t you notice how awful they are?”

Regarding Bachelor Pants, the main issue is that a man can no long wear them in public after marriage. It’s a bad representation of his wife’s tastes if she allows him out of the house in them. However, Bachelor Pants are permissible inside the home, as they are the equivalent to the women’s sweatpants. Bachelor Pants = women’s gray sweatpants. Okay, it’s a deal.

Every girl’s crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man, but left on his own, a man typically makes the wrong decisions when it comes to fashion. And if he actually does know a lot about it, he may find himself in the questionable “is he or isn’t he?” territory like the professional hired dancers on Dancing with the Stars. So what is a guy to do? Listen to a woman.

When I think of a well dressed man, I think of Frank Sinatra and James Dean, with their stylish, never-out-of-style clothing and classic, never-out-of-place hairstyles. I allow myself to believe they took care of themselves. But I’m sure they had women dressing and styling them the whole time.

Believing that haircuts are annoying and expensive, I ended up in an Owen Wilson situation with my hair for the last several months. Then it all just hit me two weeks ago: This is annoying, I need a haircut. My wife’s eyes lit up when I said that out loud, responding, “You should get it buzzed.” I thought about it for two solid minutes in silence, then replied, “Okay, let’s go.”

What’s interesting is that during my recent Italian mobster days with the long hair, several different guy friends literally said this to me out of the blue: “You got cool hair.” But during that time, all females in my life said, “It’s time for a haircut… What does Jill say about it?” Now that my hair is 1/8th of an inch all over my head, universally every female has praised my decision, while most of my guy friends say, “Oh… you got rid of it…” I hear the hint of disappointment in their voices.

Men have a Survival Mode setting. Without the help of a woman, a man’s appearance shows this Survival Mode mindset: “I took a shower, I shaved, I’m dressed, I brushed my teeth, time to go.” He may be wearing pleated black pants with brown shoes and a wrinkled shirt with the right side of the collar folded up funny on one side and his tie may be a little too short… but he is dressed, and that is all that matters to him. He is convinced he looks good.

Bottom line: If it’s mainly fellow dudes that are approving of my sense of style, I am listening to the wrong gender. Because other men enabled and encouraged my ways, it made me confident in my own ability to look presentable and good. But women are the ones born with the sense of good fashion. I have to accept the fact that there is no shame in depending on a woman for this.

I wear the pants in the relationship… but she tells me which ones to wear.

My appearance with and without the help of a woman.

Actor William Schallert (Get Smart, The Patty Duke Show) joins Ed and Frankie to discuss his many roles in film and television, including his work with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, John Sturges and Don Siegel:

http://media.podcastingmanager.com/9/3/5/3/3/142636-133539/Media/090709tvc29_2.mp3

Character actor William Schallert, a familiar face (and voice) for anyone who’s grown up watching television, will be our special guest on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Sept. 7 at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with a rebroadcast Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 11pm ET, 8pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.

Though often remembered for his regular roles as Patty Duke’s dad, Dobie Gillis’ teacher or the Admiral on Get Smart, William Schallert has played a wide variety of characters on stage, screen and television, in comedies and in dramas, for more than 60 years, including recent appearances in such top shows as True Blood, According to Jim, How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives and the HBO movie Recount. Along the way he has worked with some of the top names in the entertainment industry. We’ll be talking about that and more when Bill joins us in our second hour.

In our first hour, Andrew Lee Fielding will join us as we look back at the career of bandleader Kay Kyser. Andrew’s book, The Lucky Strike Papers, is a history of such early network TV variety programs as Your Hit Parade, The Freddy Martin Show and Kay Kyser’s College of Musical Knowledge; his mother, Sue Bennett, was a featured singer on the Kyser show, as well as other musical variety shows of that era.

Ed Robertson
Co-Host, TV CONFIDENTIAL
Mon-Sun 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Shokus Internet Radio
Every other Tuesday at 11pm ET, 8pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner

When I was in New York I treated myself to all 4 seasons of the Incredible Hulk series. I loved it when I was a kid and I’ve never ceased to be a fan. I even went to a small SCI-FI convention in Sweden some years back, and got to meet Lou Ferrigno in person and got his autograph. It’s one of my fondest memories and it was just a really cool day. The guy was still HUGE and even lifted some of the guests to show off his enormous strength. I think it’s really sad that Bill Bixby is not around anymore though. I always really liked him. Both of them combined made the incredible man, David Banner, the Incredible Hulk, and I will always think of the show as being one of the best in the history of television. And now all four seasons belong to ME! YAY! Now look at this sweet face…

I also really love the Lonely Man Theme from the show. It’s so sad. I’m so pleased that they used it in the new Incredible Hulk movie with Edward Norton. They really tried to be true to the series and even gave Bill Bixby a cameo as well as Ferrigno. They also incorporated a lot of other little details from the series that I really enjoyed watching. I didn’t really like the first Hulk movie with Eric Bana. Do any of you remember the Return of the Incredible Hulk TV movie where he teamed up with Thor? Now that is my favorite one. Well, I’ll leave you with the intro from the show and I hope it will bring back fond memories for you.

….debuted in 1977, a classic in it’s own right.

Vou começar postando o que até então seria a primeira aparição de Stan lee nos filmes, após o sucesso com a série lançada nos EUA, o lançamento de 03 filmes foram o desfecho da série naquela época.

Após assistir aos três fimes, não consegui encontrar Stan Lee, ou nada na internet que indicasse sua aparição nos outros filmes, realmente somente neste sua presença marcou então o início de suas presenças nas versões dos filmes da Marvel

No video que irei postar, é visivel a presença do Stan Lee como Juri no julgamento de David Barner (Bill Bixby) e que quando pressionado pelo Juiz e pelos advogados presentes, fica nervosinho e se transforma no Gigante Verde (Lou Ferrigno)

p.s. Isso sim era interpretação…

Stan Lee, observa atentamente a transformação e mais que depressa, quando ve que a coisa vai pegar, corre pra se salvar..hehehehhe, ele pelo menos sabia do que o Hulk era capaz.

p.s. 2 – Adivinha quem era o advogado do Hulk, …sim ele mesmo nosso amigo Demolidor (com roupa preta a nada parecido com o DareDevil que conhecemos….) mas isso é assunto para outra postagem.

Curtam a cena, e quem quiser, tenho os 03 filmes comigo na versao original, inclusive uma em espanhol, mas vale a pena.

Até mais e comentem o video

M4st3r_of_Cl4n

The Hulk meets his new adversary, Emil Blonsky aka Abomination

Dr. Bruce Banner ( Edward Norton) is a fugitive living in the slums of Brazil trying to find a cure for the condition that turns him into a destructive, green beast. While in search of the cure, Banner is hunted by the U.S. Military lead by General “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) who sends a command to Brazil headed by Major Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth). Banner manages to escape capture and return to the U.S. to find a cure and reunite with the woman he loves, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). Blonsky, thirsting for power to match the Hulk, Transforms himself into the Nightmarish beast, The Abomination. Can Banner harness his own inner beast and save the city as The Incredible Hulk?

I must start off by saying that I was a huge fan of the Incredible Hulk growing up and have a great interest in movies about super heroes, so this movie had some big expectations to live up to especially after Ang Lee’s Hulk which I probably enjoyed more than most people but I still felt missed the mark.

I was not disappointed with The Incredible Hulk. It’s great entertainment from beginning to end and non-stop action throughout from the chase through the streets of Brazil to the battling behemoths in the streets of New York. The story is great. I really liked the whole idea of Banner living in exile trying to find a way to control his anger while making it his mission to find an antidote to cure his condition. Norton does a great job as Banner. He does a good job of conveying the struggle that the scientist must be dealing with. Tim Roth’s portrayal of the power thirsty Blonsky is perfect. Not the first guy I would have thought of for this role but Roth really makes it work. Liv Tyler as Betty Ross is okay although I think Jennifer Connelly was better in Ang Lee’s 2003 version.

The Incredible Hulk does a good job of staying true to the comics while also paying homage to the old television series with a cameo from Lou Ferrigno and the sad piano music that used to play at the end of each episode. They even manage to work Bill Bixby into the film. Fans of The Incredible Hulk should not be disappointed and those who are less familiar who like a good entertaining action movie should be just as pleased. If you missed The Incredible Hulk, it’s certainly worth the rental.

I give The Incredible Hulk 4 out of 5

What did you think? Leave your comments.

“L’Incredibile Hulk” del 2008 riparte da zero dopo “Hulk” (2003) di Ang Lee un po’ come ha fatto Cristopher Nolan ripercorrendo le origini del Cavaliere Oscuro per il “Batman Begins” che è venuto ben dopo il “Batman” di Tim Burton.
In realtà in questo film c’è un riferimento – ad un certo punto lo sentiamo dire dal Generale Ross (William Hurt) – ai 5 anni passati in fuga da Bruce Banner/Hulk, stavolta interpretato dal bravissimo Edward Norton ma, mi pare di poter dire che in questa pellicola si è ripartiti dall’origine di Hulk restando più fedeli al fumetto rispetto al precedente capitolo diretto dal regista di Taiwan (meglio).

Sui titoli di testa riviviamo (prendendo molto dalla celebre serie tv con Bill Bixby e Lou Ferrigno) la nascita di Hulk, l’incidente in laboratorio, il distacco da Elizabeth Ross (una sempre eterea Liv Tyler) e dall’odio nascente del di lei padre, Generale “Thunderbolt” Ross.
Il film riparte – per ambientazione – da dove avevamo lasciato in esilio Bruce Banner: le favelas del Brasile.
Qui lo scienziato – in contatto informatico con un fantomatico Mr.Blue – sta nascosto in continua ricerca di una cura agli effetti devastanti dell’esposizione ai raggi Gamma. Nel frattempo l’esercito lo continua a ricercare per poter trarne il dna e creare una sorta di supersoldato.
Quando Banner viene rintracciato, Ross ingaggia per il blitz di recupero un capitano senza scrupoli, il temibile Emil Blonsky(Tim Roth), un uomo alla ricerca del tempo perduto in cui aveva la forza ma non l’esperienza. E sarà proprio questa volontà unita alle possibilità fornitegli dall’esercito a trasformarlo in un ributtante super-soldato, l’ Abominio.

Della trama non aggiungo altro se non che ci troviamo alcuni cameo: Lou Ferrigno è la guardia all’Università di Culver, Stan Lee l’uomo che beve la bottiglia di succo brasiliano e, in uno spezzone tv guardato da Edward Norton, ritroviamo un omaggio al compianto Bill Bixby. Malinconica poi la musica che nei momenti “tranquilli” è la stessa melodia al pianoforte usata nel telefilm del 1978 (ah, che nostalgia!).
Una piccola sorpresa alla fine: appare Tony Stark (senza armatura da Iron Man) / Robert Downey Jr.
(L’offerta che Ross non può rifiutare è più o meno la stessa fatta da Nick Fury / Samuel L.Jackson alla fine di “Iron Man”).

Personalmente ho preferito questo film rispetto a quello girato da Ang Lee grazie, forse, ad una sceneggiatura più fedele alla storia ed allo spirito dell’Hulk su carta. Norton poi è davvero bravissimo, come mi sono piaciuti molto anche William Hurt e Tim Roth. Liv Tyler non sfigura ma anche la bellissima Jennifer Connelly nello stesso ruolo che ricoprì nel 2003 non è un brutto ricordo, anzi.
La Cgi è ben fatta, lo spessore dei personaggi c’è , la trama anche e, unico punto debole a mio avviso, è la parte finale un po’ troppo action-movie fumettone (ok ^__^) rispetto al lato “serio” del personaggio e ai suoi problemi di doppia personalità. In pratica si è ricorsi ad un nemico per dare un senso al finale poichè la sola fuga-ricerca della cura erano poco per tenere viva l’attenzione dello spettatore. Mi viene davvero voglia di vedere un film in cui saltino fuori i Vendicatori a questo punto! Nel 2012 sembra…

Voto: 7 Fedele all’originale.

Ciao, J

The Incredible Hulk – TV SERIES 1977 – 1982

After a car accident robs Dr David Banner (Bill Bixby) of his wife, he attempts to tap into the hidden strengths found within the human body. Strengths that emerge under extreme cicumstances, allowing people to exert incredible feats of strength in times of crisis.
David believes that if he had been able to tap into this resource he would have been able to save his own wife, who he believes died due to his inability to find the strength needed to save her.
Banner experiments with gamma radiation on his own body, which he believes will hold the key to the answers he is searching for, but accidentally exposes himself to dangerously high doses.
He later discovers that when under extreme stress, his body transforms, turning the meek David Banner into a green goliath, capable of power Banner could only imagine.
David is unaware of the events that transpire during the transformation, remembering only parts of what has taken place.
He confides with his colleague Dr Elaina Marks, who offers to help him find out more about his transformation whilst undergoing tests at their lab. Along the way investigative reporter Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) arrives hot on the trail of a green creature sighted in the area, who he names ‘The Hulk’ (Lou Ferrigno).
An accident indirectly caused by McGee at the lab, ends in tragedy with the death of Elaina. The event causes David to transform into the Hulk and results in McGee witnessing the creature emerge from the fire.
With no sign of Banner, McGee concludes that the creature is responsible for two deaths, that of Marks and Banner. With no way to clear the creatures name without exposing himself as the Hulk, David remains ‘presumed dead’ and moves on, in search of a cure.

The pilot effectively set up a number of key points that kept the series ticking over from 1977 – 1982, spanning 5 seasons and 82 episodes. These include the introduction of reporter Jack McGee, Banners guilt over a monster he unleashed, the search for a cure, the emotional innocence of the Hulk and the ‘man on the run’ theme skillfully borrowed from ‘The Fugitive’. Each week the audience were given reasons to tune in as David travelled from location to location in the desperate hopes of finding himself a cure to rid him of the Hulk.
A standout episode from the first season is ‘747′, which highlights the problems within David’s eternal journey. This particular episode has David on a mad dash to reach the one person who he believes can offer him a solution. Unfortunately, he has a short window of time with which to reach this person, as he is due to leave the town for good. As David boards a plane to take him to his destination, he gets tangled up in a mid-air heist and has to control the Hulk long enough in order for him to fly the plane. He manages a safe landing, but it causes serious delay and by the time he reaches where he needs to be, he discovers he was just too late.

Other epsiodes tended to focus on a family or an individual that David/Hulk would help out of trouble, usually at his own expense. Although it meant the series became formulaic in its approach, the good samaritan angle matched Banners need to atone for a death he felt responsible for. It also helped that this was all backed up by strong performances from the central 3 actors, who display vulnerability hidden behind their characters own reasons to exist.

The second season returns the story emotionally back to Davids connection to a lost love, by having him marry his second wife in the episode, ‘Married’. His wife dies towards the second half of this two part story, but by setting this one at the beginning of season two, it gave David yet another tragedy that had a stronger link to his association with the Hulk. After all, the Hulks origin is linked to David’s first wife, but isnt directly linked with her death, so was often forgotten about as the series progressed.

The central story progressed over time with developments between the relationship of McGee and Banner. McGee never made the connection between David and the Hulk, but he did get very close. He discovered that the Hulk is really a man that transforms into a creature and not a wandering beast as he first believed it to be. He even came face to face with David on a few occasions, but circumstances within the episode meant that Davids secret remained hidden.
The two part episode ‘Mystery Man’ saw David involved in an accident that subsequently leaves him with amnesia and bandages covering his face. Unaware of his life with the Hulk or even his own name, he finds himself in the company of McGee as he slowly begins to learn who he is.
If McGee was close to his answer, then David was even closer to his, often just moments away from solving his predicament, only for it to be taken away at the 11th hour.
There were also developments with the Hulk persona along the way, including another Hulk in ‘The First’ and during ‘The Promethues’, David gets stuck mid transformation. This was about as Sci-fi/comic book as the show ever became, instead opting to maintain consistency with the Hulk being the only element ripped from the Marvel comics.

The series concluded with the short season 5 when it was cancelled. Davids search for a cure was never resolved within the series, but Bixby & Ferrigno returned with 3 TV movies that did at least offer some closure with ‘Death of the Incredible Hulk’ (1990).
The first 2 movies, ‘The Return of The Incredible Hulk’ (1988) and ‘Trial of the Incredible Hulk’ (1989) introduced fellow Marvel heroes Thor & Daredevil, breaking from the series tradition of not using comic book characters. The final movie, remained partner free, and concludes with David/Hulk dying. The TV movies never quite managed to capture the magic of the series, but at least offered a little more Hulk once the show had gone into syndication.

The TV series is regarded as what most people think of when they are asked about the Hulk and the most recent movie ‘The Incredible Hulk’ (2008) reflects this by picking up elements from the series. Possibly the most memorable moment outside of the transformations, is the sight of David hitching a lift whilst walking along the roadside alone. This end sequence accompanied most episodes and was played out with ‘The lonley man’ tune that brought the sombre journey he was on, back to the forefront of the mind.

Geez “Old Hulk Dude” sure is creepy huh? Just by the looks of him you know that he’s a total prick! A total prick in need of a serious smackdown! I just think, just maybe, they could have gotten someone with a little more muscle on him to play this older Hulk creature don’t you? He looks like a damn tooth pick next to ‘ol Lou! But let’s be fair-Old Hulk Dude has some seriously flashy moves he flaunts on the real Hulk. Hell, the first time I saw this episode I could NOT wait for this loser to get his ass kicked! So here it is the final battle in this amazing, epic 2 part Hulk episode entitled “The First”. I highly recommend watching both episodes in their entirety. Highly, highly entertaining…. 

Here’s a clip of the old Hulk that the real Hulk fights on the original live action  series from the 70’s! Beware this dude is scary!! Who says the Hulk never fought any cool villains on the show? Tomorrow I’ll post their EPIC battle!!!

After putting the Youtube video up yesterday about David Banner in rush hour traffic I thought it would be cool to show you an entire list of ways that he “Hulked Out” in the original live action Tv show from the 70’s starring Bill Bixby & Lou Ferrigno. This list was compiled by Kenneth Johnson the creator of that very series and many other awesome Sci-fi shows like V, Alien Nation and the Bionic Woman. check out his website here at  http://kennethjohnson.us/

Here are all the ways listed, and man I am glad my life is no where as unpredictable as Banner’s from the tv show-it’s really unbeleivable the luck this poor guy had. check these out!

Incredible HULK Provocations
      or “Ways to make Dr. David Banner angry” – Revised and extended 4/26/08

1.  Problems with flat tire

2.  Nightmare

3.  Thinking about either of his wives

4.  Cut off from somebody in danger who needs his help

5.  Being hit over the head repeatedly with a metal object

6.  Having his cure destroyed

7.  Quicksand

8.  Being mauled by a bear

9.  Being bit by a dog

10.  Being placed in a car compactor

11.  Being punched out and thrown down a flight of stairs

12.  Being punched out and thrown over a balcony

13.  Being punched out, period

14.  Being buried in a sand pit

15.  Having a row of computers fall on him

16.  Being hit with a blast of steam in the face while trying to turn off the nuclear
reactor that is melting down

17.  Receiving a lethal injection, and then having the person say, “Oh.  I just gave
you a lethal injection.  Sorry, David.”

18.  Dropping a C02 cannister on his foot after being insulted

19.  Being pushed down a mountainside by a bigfoot impersonator

20.  Dealing with a pesky operator in a phone booth (“I DON’T HAVE TWENTY-FIVE
CENTS!!!”)

21.  Getting into a car crash

22.  Having a burning 2×4 fall on his head while trying to get the horse out of the
burning barn

23.  Being trampled by a crowd AND having the hot coffee spilled on his hand
while trying to get to the sniper

24.  Being tied up and fed soup by an elderly Japanese woman who doesn’t
understand words like “You’ve GOT to cut me loose!”

25.  Grabbing the pipe that is below freezing temperature

26.  Falling through a rickety staircase while trying to get to the drunk girl who is
about to jump off the roof, and then finding that she’s locked the rooftop door

27.  Trying to get out of the basement cage while handcuffed to a chair only to fall
over a stack of boxed bottles and have them all fall on him

28.  Being placed in a dumpster by the two garbagemen who think he’s a thief,
and who don’t believe him when he says “Hey!  There are rats in here!”, and then
being bitten by the rats to add injury to insult

29.  Having two mean football players snap wet towels at him and shove him into
the steam room which they have turned on to full blast

30.  Being trapped inside a football stadium drunk tank while his friend is in
danger, and THEN having one of the drunks hit him over the head with a metal
object

31.  Being caught taking photos of toughs committing monkey business in the
restaurant, and then being beaten up and thrown under a table

32.  Getting his jacket caught in the printwheels at the newspaper printing room,
and then inexplicably sticking his hand into the rollers

33.  Yelled at by a mean cop, and then having mace sprayed in his face by same
mean cop

34.  Handcuffed to a woman who is falling over the cliff

35.  Having a large wooden beam fall on him, and then having a heavy boulder fall
on the beam

36.  Somehow running into a bear trap

37.  Beaten up and placed on a car going through a car wash, and then being
dragged under the car

38.  Placed in a small room with a ravenous black panther

39.  Somehow locking himself in an old, dark basement, and then nearly
electrocuting himself (really has to be seen to be believed)

40.  Falling into the churning water of a boathouse, and then inexplicably being
repeatedly carried over the paddlewheel (this one is stranger than 39)

41.  Being trapped in the middle of a forest fire

42.  Listening to ultrasonics

43.  Attempting to turn off the boiling hot water for the waxmaker, only to have
the faucet break off in his hand and scald him, and then inexplicably slipping and
rolling around in same boiling hot water

44.  Kicking over a beehive and then being surprised when the bees are mad at
him

45.  Being beaten up and thrown down a well

46.  Having his friend tell the New York “syndicate” that David has their money,
so that their enforcers chase David back to his apartment, and then having all his
neighbors close their doors on him rather than listen to him saying “Please!  
You’ve GOT to let me in!!!”, and then being beaten up and thrown over the
balcony into the smelly trash cans by same enforcers

47.  Being stuck in a cab in New York rush hour traffic – “You don’t understand, I
have to be there by 4:00!” – “Hey, mac, it’s rush hour, we ain’t gettin’ there til five,
so relax.” – “BUT I HAVE TO BE THERE BY FOUR!!!”

48.  Helping Ray Walston out with a magic trick by allowing himself to be chained
up and put in a tank of water, only to find that drunk Ray has forgotten to leave
the escape key inside the tank

49.  Beaten up and locked in a car trunk

50.  Receiving a speeding ticket

51.  Having Thor the Thunder God push him around

52.  Locked in a drunk tank with a crazy person who insists he is Ernest
Hemingway and then beats the stuffing out of David

53.  Being tear gassed

54.  Buried in a mine cave-in

55.  Injecting himself with the wrong cure

56.  Somehow getting himself into a bellfry and then realizing that a bell is there,
just as it strikes the hour

57.  Being pushed out of a plane at 30,000 feet by a mean guy who yells “You’re
gonna land a lot sooner than the rest of us!”

58.  Being forced to land a 747 without any training or instructions or help, at the
risk of his, the Hulk’s, and everybody else on the plane’s lives

59.  Being put in a strait jacket because he’s seen the videotape that proves that
the sanatarium doctor is performing unnecessary lobotomies on the patients,
and then thrashing around so much that he bangs his head on the floor

60.  Being stuck in the police department’s voice mail system when he knows his
friend is about to be the next lobotomy subject, only to have the police finally
pick up the phone after he’s turning into the Hulk

61.  Being stuck in a cabin that the police are turning into swiss cheese with their
shotguns, even though he and the pregnant woman have no guns and have
waved the white flag, only to have the police bullets start a fire in the cabin, etc.,
etc.

62.  Beaten up by a bunch of mean cops who won’t listen to him saying “Hey!  
Don’t touch that woman!  She’s pregnant!  No!”

63.  Being grazed in the face by a bullet while running after the bus carrying his
friend’s hysterical mother, and then running into the messy, overturned garbage
cans

64.  Being rear-ended fifteen times in a row by a mean bully with a bigger car than
his

65.  Buried in cement by the mob

66.  Being showered with electrical sparks because Jack McGee has spotted him
and is running after him shouting “Hey, John Doe!”

67.  Beaten up by the rag trade mob, and having his arm placed in a press iron

68.  Being placed in a cage with an angry gorilla

69.  Making some Hell’s Angels very angry with him

70.  Being run over by same angry Hell’s Angels

71.  Wandering into an Army dump to get the deadly canister of army nerve gas
that has blinded his friend, only to be caught by a mean MP who knocks his gas
mask off and throws him back down the hill, knocking the canister open so that
David can frantically try to put his mask back on before looking up to see that the
MP has somehow brought in a crane and is dumping two tons of garbage on him
(this is an unusually bizarre situation)

72.  While blinded for the episode, wandering across an Army training course,
and then veering into the training minefield (see parenthetical at #39)

73.  Being chained to a truck while his friend for the episode has been taken
inside the trailer by the natives to be punished under the rites of La Culta de
Cabeza Chocolata

74.  Trying to run away from the nasty prison work camp, only to fall through a
rotted bridge, and then being bitten by a rattlesnake

75.  Beaten up by all the other prisoners in the work camp, in the middle of the
night while he is trying to sleep, when he emphatically told them not to beat him
up that particular night

76.  Falling in a pitfall set by the crazed man who is hunting David on his private
island, and then being stung by the scorpion when trying to climb out

77.  Being horsewhipped by same crazed man who is understandably upset that
David will not accomodate his polite requests to “turn back into that thing”

78.  Being thrown under a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade float by a mean guy in
a gorilla suit who gives David a few kicks for good measure

79.  Making the High Priest of the Baba Yaga voodoo cult so angry with him by
challenging a perfectly normal ritual sacrifice that several of the Priest’s minions
are obliged to beat the stuffing out of David and throw a cloak over his head

80.  Accidentally getting stuck in the department store that is being robbed, and
then having one of the thieves lock him in the bottom of an elevator shaft,
underneath a creaky old elevator that is showering sparks, and slipping off of its
cables, yelling “Hey!  You’ve got to get me out of here!  It’s slipping!”, only to
have the 5-ton elevator suddenly fall on him  (this one gets points for originality)

81.  Being beaten up by the thieves and thrown in the store vault, having the
vault door closed on his foot, and then having the air supply cut off by the
giggling thieves

82.  Being placed in a cargo crate with his friend for the episode because he’s
found out about the problems at the waterfront, and being hoisted onto an
outbound freighter, but having all the dockworkers ignore his screams of “Hey!
Hey! Help! HELLLLPPPP!!!”

83.  Being mistaken for mob boss Mike Cassidy, who looks exactly like him, and
who everybody wants to beat up, so that David is repeatedly beaten up for no
reason

84.  Being placed in a room that is filled with carbon monoxide gas

85.  Wandering around in the service ducts of a hotel (akin to Bruce Willis) only to
accidentally yank several of the steam pipes loose and get a full blast of hot
steam

86.  Beaten up and thrown in a closet, and while thrashing around and trying to
get out, sticking his hand in a box of broken glassware

87.  Foolishly running in and trying to help a man who brought a lit cigarette into a
room full of toxic vapors, only to have an explosion throw him across the room
and into the row of heavy C02 containers, which all fall on him

88.  Hit in the face with a high powered beebee gun, which causes him to fall
over the balcony and plunge 40 feet into the seats below

89.  Being trapped by McGee in a back room, and when he tries to  run away,
bashing his knee, crashing into a backboard, and doing generally clutzy things
culminating with falling down the stairs and crashing into a giant flower pot

90.  Beaten up while trying to keep the incoherent man from stabbing the woman
who accidentally locked David in the closet, and then having same man attempt
to close the door to same closet on David’s head

90.  Being hit by a car and knocked twenty feet so that he tumbles down a
conveniently open manhole

91.  Being shot at close range with a silenced pistol, after standing up to the
mob’s enforcers

92.  Being trapped in the middle of a forest fire so that burning branches keep
falling on him and setting him on fire, and a giant, burning tree falls directly on
him as the last straw (Different from last forest fire predicament)

93.  Being caught in an explosion on the edge of the fire that throws him into a
tumbling, rolling pile of large, heavy pipes

94.  Foolishly trying to open the door to the shed of airplane propellant that is on
fire, and then being caught in the explosion

95.  Falling out of a plane without a parachute, then being given a parachute
(which causes the person who pushed him to be told “That guy has nine lives”,
to which the mean person responds by pulling out a rifle and saying “Yeah, but I
got ten rounds”), and then having the straps to his parachute shot off when he is
still 30 feet above an empty house so that he falls through the roof and hurts
himself

96.  Deliberately going to a disco club and picking a fight with some very large
and angry men because while trying to cure himself, he injected himself with a
solution that has unleashed his “dark side”

97.  Trapped on a platform with the worker who is having a heart attack, and
being showered with electrical sparks

98.  Crawling through the sensitive, highly dangerous electrical service tunnel
for no apparent reason, only to accidentally kick several of the electrical cables
loose and flailing around near the hot water pipes so that he can be practically
electricuted and fried at the same time

99.  Accidentally leaving the laser beam on in the chemical lab so that it cuts
across the room and into the highly toxic chemicals so that David is enveloped in
poisonous fumes

100.  Trapped in a burning room in the scientific project with ten other people by
the crazed mercenary who is trying to capture the Hulk, and then trying with
everybody else to ram open the door with a jagged metal shelf set, only to get his
hand caught between the edge of the shelf set and the door during a group ram

101.  Punched out and thrown in the cactus bed so that David can thrash around
on the cactus, even though he has plenty of avenues of escape

102.  Coming to the aid of the gumshoe in the garage who is being beaten up for
not minding HIS own business, and getting beaten up himself, kicked under a low
riding sportscar that has been jacked up for repairs, and whose jack is removed
so that the car can fall on David.  Gumshoe’s reaction, in voiceover narration:  ”It
was a big green thing, and it definitely wasn’t happy about something.”

103.  Being caught at the old studio backlot with same gumshoe, by same nasty
bad guys, and trying to run away so as not to get angry with them, only to have
them pull a heavy old scene facade down on top of him.  Gumshoe’s reaction:  ”It
was that green thing again, and it still wasn’t happy.”

104.  Beaten up by a couple of punks under the Santa Monica Pier, who ask him
for his wallet, query him why he only has $5 on him, and then forcibly baptize him
several times

105.  Tied up by same punks and left attached to a bench press machine as bait
for the bodybuilder (played by Lou Ferrigno) and his girlfriend to find and
become upset over, except that David becomes upset first

106.  Being fed poisoned sushi

107.  Tied up by the Japanese mob in San Francisco and thrown in his bathtub
with the shower blasting scalding hot water on him (why he doesn’t simply get
out of the tub is a mystery)

108.  Having several clay pots broken over his head in the middle of the now-
burning room (why is the room always burning?), and then knocking an entire
case of same clay pots onto same head, and then, while lying very still and
struggling not to get angry, having his pants catch fire

*109.  For Dell Frye (whose hulking out predates David by 30 years):  Having
David rudely turn off the gamma radiation machine when he’s trying to turn
himself back into the green creature he used to turn into in the 1950s

*110.  For Dell Frye:  Going to a bar and deliberately picking a fight so that he can
get mad, turn into the creature and kill someone

*111.  For Dell Frye:  Having David rudely inject him with a cure so that he won’t
be able to turn into the monster anymore

112.  While paralyzed for the episode, somehow getting caught in the middle of a
barroom brawl, and while trying to quietly wheel himself out of the room, being
hit by a flying body and knocked down the stairs (what David is even doing in
such a situation goes unexplained)

113.  While still paralyzed, trying to drive a car to the bank to stop his friend for
the episode (who is going to try to obtain an immediate loan by robbing the
bank), only to drive so slowly that the big guy in the truck behind him keeps
yelling “Hurry up!  Learn to drive!”, and then getting so caught up in watching his
friend wheel into the bank that he forgets to look both ways before entering the
intersection, crashes into a car trying to cross in front of him, and gets rear-
ended by the big guy in the truck, who remarks as David begins turning into the
Hulk:      ”You IDIOT!!”

114.  Trying to escape his apartment before Jack McGee finishes bashing in the
front door with an axe, by smashing the bathroom window, only to grievously cut
himself on the broken glass

115.  Trying to help his friend for the episode, the midget wrestler known as “Half
Nelson”, by climbing into the ring for him, only to be clobbered by a large, beefy
wrestler who practices numerous combination moves on David, in spite of David
(and Jack McGee)’s numerous cries of “Stop!  You don’t know what you’re doing!  
You’re making me ANGRY!”

116.  Somehow being caught under a rockslide, and then foolishly exposing one
of his hands on the mountainside so that a big, heavy rock smashes it

117.  Being attacked by some mean cops who handcuff him even though he has
told them his hand is broken, and who then let him flail around so that he falls on
his bad hand

118.   While working as a cabbie for the episode, trying to get the pregnant
woman whose water has broken to the hospital, only to find that his cab is out of
gas, and then having every gas station in town refuse to give him any gas,
having a really mean gas station attendant yell back at him “I heard that one
already!”, and then having same mean attendant slam the door on his fingers  (As
an interesting touch, after the Hulk trashes the place, he ambles over to the taxi
to find out that the woman HAS DELIVERED HER OWN BABY and is now happily
smiling at the Hulk with the baby!)

119.   While still working as a cabbie, somehow being thrown into a rock crushing
machine that sucks David through a sandpit while rocks slam into his head and
hands (Leads to a bizarre shot of the Hulk being carried along the conveyor
belt…)

120.   Trying to stop the psycho from driving off with his friend only to be dragged
by the car across the parking lot, and then having the psycho yank the wheel so
that David is thrown across the lot into a bunch of broken boxes

121.   Being handcuffed in an office by the psycho (who turns out to be the chief
of police), and then having an angry mob break through the door and through the
makeshift barricade David tries to make (while still handcuffed), and then having
the mob proceed to throw him against the wall and beat the living daylights out of
him  (Somehow, nobody notices that he’s turning green and going from a size 5
to a size 9 until it’s way too late)

122.   Being lassoed by the mean cowboys and dragged behind their horses
across a bunch of dirt and rocks, and then being dragged into the river

123.   Being thrown into a holding pen with an angry bull by the mean cowboys,
hitting his head on the ground, and while he’s lying on the ground trying to
recover, having the bull literally kick his behind (and his side, and his leg, and
his gizzard, etc)

124.   Finding out that his somewhat slow friend Ricky has locked himself in a
shed in a car with the engine running, and then trying to break the lock with a
shovel, only to have the rusty shovel snap and clobber his fingers

125.   Driving into the demolition derby because good old Ricky has driven a
potentially explosive car into the derby, only to have his car bashed by every
other car on the field so that nobody can hear his frantic cries of “No! Ricky!
RICKY!”  (One could presumably ask why David doesn’t just have them stop the
derby…)

126.   Unknowingly having one of the other guys in the rock band crew helpfully
add some “orange sunshine” LSD to David’s orange juice, so that David has a
really bad trip

127.   Beaten up and locked in a storage chest.

128.   Trying to help the sweet old lady with her robbery, only to have one of her
mean friends chain him up and throw him into the bay.  (Leads to an underwater
hulkout!)

129.   Wandering around inside the carnival funhouse, only to have someone turn
on the machinery so that David is somehow caught in a rolling tumbler and
flipped over a few times and then thrown down a convenient slide

131.  Konged in the head by the crazed bible quoter in the back storeroom, and
then waking up to discover that not only has the guy set the room on fire (Again!)
but that David himself is now on fire

130.  Going to all the houses in the neighborhood to tell them that the boy in the
house next door is being beaten by his father, only to have everyone close their
doors on him rather than help

131.  Being caught in a gym by the mean guy who’s been beating up his son, and
then being beaten up by the guy and thrown out into the hallway

In the past few months, I’ve been traveling a lot. I’m not going that far geographically, only about three hours drive, but it most definitely is a world away.

The day before Christmas, I sold my business of the last ten years. This was, as you can imagine, a difficult choice to make and one that took a lot of introspection before the final, irrevocable decision was made. The trick, as with any business sale, was finding the buyer. As I put the word out that my company was for sale, I started to really discover what was going to be needed of me to make this happen. I was a manufacturer of a specialty home item and though it wasn’t rocket science, any prospective buyer who didn’t have a direct background in this process was going to need a lot of hand holding. This meant that I was going to be doing a lot of direct instruction and thus, away from home for an appreciable period of time. There was no escaping that reality.

The first individuals whom really looked interested were a very nice couple out in California. I spent several hours teleconferencing with them as they tried to make their decision to buy or not and though I was excited at the idea of selling, I also thought about how hard this was going to be. I would naturally have to go out there and show them the ins and outs of the business and that would take my time and their money. Then, I got a call from another company with some serious interest. They wanted to talk and… they were just one state away. Better than that, they were in my childhood hometown. As the California folks waffled and the economy got bleaker, I heard from them less and less and from the new folks “back home”, more and more. In the end, the new folks bought it.

In one day, most of the shop was packed up on a truck and moved lock, stock and barrel to its new home and plans were made for me to put on my instructor’s hat and follow along until they had everything in hand. Finding a place to stay three or so days at a time was no problem at all since my folks still live there and don’t mind seeing my face turn up on their door step or hogging up the bathroom first thing in the morning. I don’t get back to my parent’s home much and it’s rather a novelty to be there again.

One of the complications of this is my other loved ones. My dear Wife would be left in the house with two small children running on 100% pure high octane crazy, and though we both love them immeasurably, being “on duty” solo for days at a time can grind you down faster than an eraser in the hands of a third grader. In an effort to keep things as easy as they could be for Action Girl, I took Short Stack with me on several of these trips. Sitting in the passenger side back seat, Short Stack would watch the world go by one truck at a time with a “director’s cut” commentary going for the duration. In an effort to improve his view, I’d remove the headrest from the front passenger seat, thus giving him a much appreciated and unobstructed view of the road. He’s a great traveling companion and never complains about anything. He will point out every single piece of heavy equipment that you come across and ask you roughly a gazillion unanswerable questions though. You just have to deal with that. His favorite is to point to a random street as you drive along and say, “Why are we not on that road?”

Once I got to our destination, my parent’s would watch Short Stack and I’d get to work. I really didn’t get much of a chance to look around town since I was there to instruct, not reminisce, but I was taken with how much things had changed. The changes, in fact, were almost all I could see. The new plazas, the missing fields, the giant bypasses and the new roundabouts. Where had my little hometown gone? My view of my past home, colored in fading Kodachrome, matched up badly against what I was looking at now and it made me a little sad, even if I knew very well that things inevitably change. My days were full of instruction and work but it was good to see the torch being passed as well. I was happy with my decision and the buyers were the right ones to carry it forward. When I’d get home it was to my old house, my parents and my son. Talk about things changing with time.

My last trip back to instruct was solo. Action Girl decided that though she loved her one on one time with Lulu Belle, she needed some verbal company while I was gone. It did take some of the pressure off for me, being on my own. Even if I didn’t get out to poke around town much, I did get to work late and finish up the lessons, thus insuring that I was done traveling for extended periods of time. I promised my self that I’d be back in the springtime, just to enjoy being there and perhaps go hiking with the family. Running out for lunch on the last day, I decided to take a back route I remembered from my childhood. The small roads wound through residential neighborhoods I hadn’t passed in a lifetime and as I crossed a small bridge, I had a flash of a face race through my mind.

She was a tall and thin with soft features and a warm smile. She was wearing a long skirt, simple blouse and a headscarf as was common in the nineteen-seventies. With her were two boys enjoying the remains of their ice cream cones and talking happily as they walked over this very bridge. I was one of those boys and the other was my friend Charlie. The kind woman was his Mom and I can just recall stopping to drop the soggy ends of our cones over the rail and then racing to the other side to see whose was first as the current swept them away. She had taken us out that day for a walk and other than that brief piece; I can’t recall any of the other day’s happenings. I was probably seven at the time and didn’t know that she wore the scarf for a reason other than fashion though I’m sure Charlie knew.

I remember him being absent from my life for a while not long after that sunny day. The cancer had moved quickly and as friends and classmates, we all tried to fathom what it would be like to loose your mom. The idea alone scared the hell out of us. We couldn’t imagine what he and his twin sister were going through. The only frame of reference I had was the TV show, “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” starring a young Bill Bixby. In the show, Bill’s wife had died and left him and their six year old son alone. I remember it being a good watch, not funny, not sad, but poignant and a bit melancholy at times. It wasn’t hard to imagine the boy being played by my friend.

Charlie and I remained close for years and years and I don’t think even once brought up his mother to him. I don’t know what I would have said at any rate. Bringing up topics like that are hard enough as an adult. When you’re a kid, well… they seem better to leave alone, like a scary dream or dangerous looking animal. The odd thing that struck me as I drove along, away from the bridge and past Charlie’s old house, was the realization that I had remembered that moment with his Mom and the ice creams before. It occurred to me that it popped into my mind whenever I crossed that spot. It had just been so long since the last time I had been by here. I hardly remember her, but I knew her son very well, and I think she would be proud of him today indeed

I lost track of Charlie after high school and haven’t been able to find him since, though I confess, I haven’t looked terribly hard either. We were very good friends once and spent a lot of time playing in each other’s yards. His Father I recall being a little domineering and over protective, but with children of my own now and trying to imagine keeping a family safe and strong through the loss of your spouse, I can’t blame him at all. In retrospect, he was doing an amazing job.

As I drove back to work after picking up my lunch, I took a different route back. I still know all the back roads and remember riding my bike down the shaded, cracked and uneven cement sidewalks, so long ago. It feels strange now to be here again but nostalgic, all the same. It stirs memories that have long lain dormant. I hope I can get back this spring with the family so we can do some good poking around. If time permits, we might go for ice cream. If I can remember, I’ll smile to my self and silently thank Charlie’s Mom for her kindness so long ago. Wouldn’t it be good for all of us to be remembered like that some day?

Incredible Hulk The Incredible Hulk – The Complete First Season

The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Series

The Incredible Hulk is something of a restart after a subpar intial effort to bring the Hulk to the big screen.  Ang Lee’s The Hulk was too angst ridden, which is what Ang does best.  It had the depressed pacing of most of his movies.  So they punted on everyone involved with The Hulk and started (almost) over.

They brought in Edward Norton (big improvement), Liv Tyler (I preferred Jennifer Connelly), William Hurt (an equal exchange for Sam Elliott) and thankfully didn’t revisit the storyline with his father.  The script here is heavier on action, and less on emotional storylines apart from Bruce’s longing for Betty while he wanders the world in an attempt to stay ahead of General Ross’s attempts to capture him.  They “redo” his initial transformation into the Hulk during an experiment gone wrong as part of the opening credits.  It differs from the Ang Lee version.  There is a quick glimpse of some Stark Industries blueprints [sonic(?) cannons used in a battle scene], setting up Tony’s appearance at the end (cameo by Robert Downey Jr.).  The story runs essentially concurrently with Iron Man.

This movie is more playful than Ang Lee’s.  You catch a quick glimpse of Bill Bixby’s old TV gig as Eddie’s single dad.  Big Lou makes a cameo as a security guard as well.  They answered the question of how come his pants stay on as well- elastic waistbands.  They obviously stretch too far, adding a bit more comedy as Bruce tries to keep his shredded pants on.  This version is much more like the other superhero movies, and I’m sure much more of what Marvel had in mind in the first place.

The story is about Banner’s quest to eliminate Hulk.  He fears how the military will use the “technology” used to create Hulk if they can capture Banner and figure it all out.  Banner has been working with another scientist to find a cure.  But he needs the data from the event.  To get this he must return home, during which he hopes to connect with his love, Betty Ross.  Of course, General Ross is hot on his trail with his own special soldier.  When they discover the ‘cure’ they aren’t sure if it merely suppresses and episode or completely cures him.  Suddenly they need Hulk to become a hero.

Hulk is more creative in his rage.  He uses parts of cars as shields, brass knuckles etc.  His rage is more apparent.  He seems more dangerous, scary and less “corny”.  He’s not jumping outrageous distances.  He’s also more human, which is what adds to the terror in some ways.  He retains knowledge of Betty.  His love for Betty is the one thing that can control his behavior.  It is more of a love story than the previous take on Hulk.

After rescuing her during a battle on the college campus, there is a scene reminiscent of King Kong.  They are hiding in the cleft of a rock face.  She is both afraid and drawn to him.  I could not help but think of Christ- He is not safe, but he is good and reborn hearts are drawn to Him despite the fact He is mighty and awesome.

Both General Ross and Blotsky want Bruce’s power for themselves.  Like Adam, they fell for the original lie, and have a desire to be gods.  Their quest for personal power drives them in different ways.  Ross wants to control Hulk, to harness technology.  Blotsky wants to defeat Hulk, seeing him as the ultimate rival.

The movie is quite intense, particularly when Abomination arrives on the scene for a climatic battle with Hulk.  Hulk appears to be no match for Abomination until Betty is threatened.  I was unclear if he actually killed Abomination ( I don’t want to give away too much in the odd chance you haven’t seen it).  But if he didn’t, how did they end up restraining him?

Aside from the violence, there is almost a sex scene that would be inappropriate for the kids.  But they have produced a much more enjoyable movie this time round.  I look forward to the next one.

…and I managed to start to organize our DVD’s and CDs. I was multitasking like my girl Martha, yo.

1. On Friday night Jess & Matt had us over for dinner (where we ate an amazing pork chop with spicy chutney ‘plate principal’ – Yay Jess!) and a movie. After much wrangling (and the fact that it was their only ‘flix at home) we settled on “Waiting for Guffman“. In it, a small town theater company puts on a show about the 150th anniversary of their town. A representative of a Broadway producer is scheduled to come and see the show. Hilarity ensues. Have you ever seen “For Your Consideration”? It is like that, but set 10 years earlier and several million dollars poorer. Which is not to say that it is a bad movie. You just have to have some sort of theater background to really appreciate it.

2. Saturday afternoon Sabrina and Hubby and I went to see the new Jim Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. It was a good movie, although a little explody at times. The action was very fast paced (i.e.: I do not recommend this flick for those with epilepsy) and the cars drove fast and everyone was running, running, running. The plot was a little lost on me, as was the reason that the movie was called Quantum of Solace, but I have never claimed to be the sharpest crayon in the box. Truth? I miss the gadgets and slickness of the James Bond’s of yore. But I definitely see the appeal of this new Bond. Yes. If you squint you can see his “appeal” right there…

3. On Saturday night the Wizard of Oz came on TV, so, struck by the winds of inspiration, we got Hub’s DVD and popped it in. It wasn’t until I had said to Hub several times that I didn’t remember Judy Garland being so …plump… in this movie that we realized that we were watching a 4:3 movie in widescreen. Woops! Sorry, Judy! You’re good enough! Don’t turn to drugs and alcohol! This was the recently restored version of the movie, and it did look pretty amazing for being 70 years old. I don’t think that we have watched the movie since Grady was born, so it was a surprise that we watched the movie through Toto’s eyes this time (Grady being the spitting image of Toto, albeit albino). Yeah – Judy man-handles that dog to frustration. I’m surprised he didn’t bite her face or pee on everything or run away. Poor Toto.

4. And finally, last night we watched The Incredible Hulk, from 2008, starring Ed Norton. Wow. This was a great movie, especially compared to the excrement that was the 2003 version. Plus, they threw all sorts of fun little fan-winks into the film. Bruce’s aversion to the iconic purple Hulk pants, Stark Enterprises being all over the place, a clip of The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (Bill Bixby, who starred in TCOEF was also Bruce Banner in the TV version of the Hulk) playing on the TV, Lou Ferrigno as a security guard, and my favorite, the great “walking away” music from the end credits of the TV show played after the first time that the Hulk transformed back into “puny Banner”. I was geeking out so much that Hub kind of just tuned me out. “Yes, how cool.” “Wow, that’s neat”. “OMG, Wee.”

And what films did you watch this weekend?

PS – You can here the Hulk “Lonely Man” theme here.

…I remember watching the first episode of The Hulk. When he made his grand entrance (I believe he came crashing through adoor, but then again he came crashing through a lot of doors so that could be a memory of any other episode), I jumped from my seat and walked very quickly from the room mumbling that “this is getting dead boring” rather than screaming like a little girl in fright.
I decided instead to keep my mother company out in the front Garden!