Articles in August, 2009

Further refinements

I’ve continued to refine the site and make it look and work more like the old site, with the help of some plug-ins and add-in code. I’ve also started converting more articles, which I am giving publishing dates that match the original date of publishing, creating a sort of retroactive archive. I will probably have [...]

New Tysto goes live

The conversion of the site is pretty much complete. All the building blocks are in place. So far, I’ve converted only one actual article, but more will come. The old site and all the old pages are still available at their old location except for the category pages, which have been moved to an archive folder.

The new Tysto

Welcome to the new Tysto. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be converting the look and functionality of this site to the new WordPress engine.

In the meantime, you can still access the old site via the archives.

Why a national health care system is a good idea

Medical stuff

Derek Jensen compares universal health services with universal fire fighting services and police services, with a little history on the insurance industry and a brief examination of universal health care in other industrialized countries.

Commentary: Horror of Dracula

Saruman dons the cape and fangs for his first turn as the granddaddy of all vampires, Count Dracula, in Hammer’s second big horror venture. Grand Moff Tarkin dons pimp gear to take him on as Doctor Van Helsing. Alfred the butler comes along for the ride as Arthur Holmwood.

Listen as I explain the differences from the book and the anachronisms.

Commentary: The Curse of Frankenstein

DVD Commentaries

The puppy is alive! Alive! Peter Cushing takes up the role of the madman Victor Frankenstein, desperately trying to pursue his life’s work of discovering the secret of life while constantly being nagged by his mentor, his fiancee, and his housemaid. Christopher Lee takes up the role of the mute, murderous monster with the greatest brain in Europe.

Join me as I compare this first big Hammer horror classic extensively with the original novel and the Universal movies.

Handsome strangers

Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his prime and in his governorship

From “Hercules” to “Gordy Brewer”—and, yes, “Handsome Stranger”—Andrew Cole analyzes all the major film roles of Arnold Schwarzenegger and why so few of them bother to explain why he sounds Austrian—or even have names that half-way fit him. He gives “ludicrosity” ratings to each of the character names and embeds a couple of videos to illustrate.