Was the real ending to John Carpenter's THE THING in plain sight all along?

John Carpenter's 1982 science-fiction horror film The Thing is one of those movies that no matter how many times you watch it over the decades, you can always spot something new that you've haven't caught before. Case in point: I had never noticed that Doc Copper has a nose-ring until almost two years ago. It's the smallish details like that which keep the debate and discussion going about The Thing... and I'll admit that nearly thirty years after I first saw this movie, I still haven't figured out who was where and for how long at Outpost 31.

But I had thought that there was nothing major left to be discovered. Nothing at all. How could there be, in a movie that I've bought no less than three times for my personal library (the latest being the gorgeous Blu-ray that I watch every time I get snowed-in during winter). Heck, it's a movie so near and dear to my heart that I had already put the Blu-ray version on my iPad long before good friend Lee Shelton alerted me to this story about The Thing and its classic ending. Specifically, how John Carpenter possibly answered the last big question about the story and it has been right in front of us the whole time.

If you haven't seen The Thing (shame on you!) and you don't care about spoilers, it's like this: in the final scene, the only survivors of the camp are helicopter pilot MacReady (Kurt Russell) and mechanic Childs (Keith David). With the entire outpost destroyed and the hard biting cold of the Antarctic night bearing down on them, it is only a matter of time before they freeze to death. The film ends with both men starting at each other, wondering if the other is fully human.

Here's the comment that started it all, from one KicksButtson on Reddit.com...

A friend of mine, back when he was an assistant, spent a great deal of time with John Carpenter doing interviews and the like for video games and comic projects. I was discussing my conversation with Larry Turman with this friend and he said

"You know, I asked John Carpenter about The Thing."

"Oh yeah? What did he say?" I asked.

"He said he never understood where all the confusion came from. The last frame of The Thing is Kurt Russell and Keith David staring each other down, harshly backlit. It's completely, glaringly obvious that Kurt Russell is breathing and Keith David is not."

I looked at my friend for a minute, soaking it in. Straight from the horse's mouth.

"That's a pretty subtle cue to expect the audience to absorb having seen severed heads grow spider legs and run around," I said.

"That's the genius of The Thing," my friend said, and we moved on to other subjects.

As soon as I read that I whipped out the iPad and went to The Thing's last scene.

And son of a gun... it's true.

MacReady's breath is so visible, so unavoidably obvious, it can't be anything but an in-your-face indicator of something significant.

But there is no breath at all coming out of Childs. He comes out of the darkness, he talks to MacReady, and he's not breathing.

Well played, Mr. Carpenter. Well-played indeed. Looks like I'll have to be watching your movie at least another dozen or so more times, just so I can study where Childs goes and when.

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Hey all of you DOWNTON ABBEY fanatics...

Most of you have seen this already, I'd bet. The only thing I know about Downton Abbey is that it has the inimitable Maggie Smith among the cast and for that alone I'm gonna make time to eventually watch this show.

This series must be a big deal. For one thing my Facebook front page was loaded with all kinds of numbstruck horror over the weekend because of the Downton Abbey season finale. And then there's the fact that Sesame Street has now spoofed it! Even without knowing the particulars of the source material, I thought this was pretty funny.

So here is "Uptown Downton Abbey"...

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A troubling trend in News & Record journalism

The News & Record in Greensboro - the region's largest newspaper - has a story on the front page of today's edition about last night's resolution by the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners to restore the Confederate Soldiers Monument in downtown Reidsville (see earlier post here).

For some reason or another Joe Gamm - the reporter who wrote the story - chose to include the following in his article...

"After a court approved replacing the monument, vandals spray-painted the words 'Monument is coming back' on an auto body shop run by an African American businessman who outspokenly opposed returning the statue to its original spot."

Could somebody please explain to me: What does the above reference by Mr. Gamm have anything... anything at all... to do with what happened to the Confederate monument from the time of the accident in 2011 up 'til today?

Because I can't find any legitimate reason whatsoever.

What I do see however see is a not-so-subtle attempt to inject an inflammatory issue into the matter at hand, when said issue is NOT germane to the discussion at all.

"Objective journalism"? Hardly. It's not the first time I've seen such writing employed by the News & Record lately either. Earlier this month Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson suffered a heart attack. The News & Record article made a teeny mention of that significant fact, choosing instead to harp on the lawsuit that Johnson is facing from the United States Department of Justice in regard to alleged racial profiling.

Nothing personal against Mr. Gamm. But I expect better out of the News & Record and every one of its writers (many of whom I have come to know and respect over the years). Unfortunately there is an appearance of considerable bias in what is otherwise a well-written story. However one such aside as this - when its sole seeming purpose is to inject overtones of racism into a matter demanding sobriety of senses - throws everything about it into question and doubt.

And that isn't meant to suggest any disparagement or diminishing the grievousness of the vandalism done to Ernie Pinnix's property. Vandalism is a severe crime regardless of the motive. It should be prosecuted because it is a crime, regardless of why the perpetrator did it. But that incident was, or at least should be, a completely separate matter from the Confederate monument.

Mr. Gamm, News & Record editors: this isn't proper journalism, and we all know it.

Again, do better.

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Rockingham County commissioners UNANIMOUSLY approve restoring the Confederate monument!

The message went out loud and clear last night from citizens and their elected representatives alike: "Mayor Festerman, tear down this tree!"

Confederate Soldiers Monument in downtown
Reidsville, North Carolina prior to the
May 2011 accident

Lots of friends who went to yesterday evening's meeting of the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners conveyed the good news: that by unanimous vote, all five board members passed a resolution calling for the return of the Confederate Soldiers Monument in downtown Reidsville.

And what's more, there was not one person at the near-capacity public hearing in Wentworth who spoke against restoring the monument.

Let that lil' detail sink in, friends and neighbors. During a two-plus hour public meeting that had been announced and advertised well in advance, nobody came to the podium to insist or remotely suggest that the monument remain absent from the town's landscape. That alone indicates the overwhelming belief across the community is that the Confederate Soldiers Monument should go back to its rightful place as a memorial to the men of Rockingham County who, for whatever reason God or conscience led, volunteered to serve and defend what they saw as their homes and their loved ones.

The Confederate Soldiers Monument (seen at right in its proper glory) had stood vigil at the intersection of Scales and Morehead streets in Reidsville since its dedication in 1910. But in May of 2011 the monument was severely damaged and the statue atop it smashed into pieces when a driver fell asleep and crashed into it.

In any other municipality to be found across America, the logical and obvious thing would have been to repair the statue, restore the monument to its previous condition and then let it all stand anew, as if nothing had happened and none the worse for wear. The driver's insurance would have paid for all the work that would have been required.

Except this is Reidsville, North Carolina we're talking about. Oh the people here are fine. But this town's current administration is so drunk on power that it would put Boss Hogg to shame.

So instead of letting things run their proper course, Reidsville's city government removed EVERYTHING pertaining to the monument and WITHOUT consulting the citizenry or even letting it be known that the monument was going to be pulled out at all! There was no due process whatsoever on the part of Reidsville City Council and Reidsville Mayor James Festerman.

Mayor Festerman arbitrarily chose to have the Confederate Soldiers Monument removed wholesale. In its place has been a butt-ugly eyesore that has variably taken the form of a massive planter or the town Christmas tree (the current occupant of the site). I've taken to calling it "Festerman's Folly".

And what has Maximum Mayor James Festerman the First of His Name to say about it? He's gone on record as decreeing that the Confederate statue is "never" going to be returned to its original location.

Huh. If that isn't the mentality of a dictator, then I don't know what would be.

Festerman insists that the monument is a magnet of "controversy". But it had never been before. If there is any now it is only because some people demand to see controversy around the monument. Apparently the fact that it's a (gasp!) monument to soldiers who fought in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War is enough to... something. Rationale on the part of Reidsville government in the matter has been spotty at best.

Confederate history enthusiasts - many dressed in period costume - have protested for the return of the monument at the site for most of the past two years. It should also be borne in mind that these have been people from all walks of life, both white and black. Those peaceful assemblies ended when the Reidsville Police began prohibiting the protestors from the traffic circle. Okay, actually the protestors were limited to six inches of space in which they could stand (for realz, folks).

Anyhoo, for most of this time a group of citizens calling themselves the Historic Preservation Action Committee (HPAC) has been doing some admirable work toward restoring the monument to downtown Reidsville. As HPAC members have noted, the monument is one toward all the Confederate soldiers of Rockingham County, not just the ones from Reidsville. And that's something that shouldn't be done away with at the whim of one person.

Last night the county commissioners weight in. From the Save the Reidsville Confederate Monument page on Facebook...

Big news tonight from Wentworth, North Carolina! The Rockingham County Commissioners unanimously adopt a resolution in favor of putting the monument back up in Reidsville.The County Commissioner's chamber was filled with those in favor of the monument being restored. All those who spoke from the public were in favor. Not a single negative comment from the public! Emotions were high and it was a standing ovation as the commissioners voted all in favor. Although this resolution has no legal binding withing the City of Reidsville, the Reidsville City council has some pressure on it and now has some explaining to do to the public. More to come as it develops.

Commissioner Craig Travis remarked that "We're talking about a City Council that's run amok. If you don't like what they do, vote them out. The cities need to be held accountable." Indeed, it is now coming to light that there have apparently been some seriously under-handed shenanigans on the part of Reidsville officials to not only obscure and obfuscate its citizens in regard to the monument, but also some illegalunethical legal finagling involving the United Daughters of the Confederacy. I'm gonna be listening for more about that particular item especially...

If you wanna read more here are all the posts that have appeared on this blog about the monument since the 2011 accident. And fellow Reidsvillian Rob Jernigan has been all over this matter since Day One: here's his Speaking Up & Out news site, which Rob has said will be hosting video of last night's meeting later today.

If this momentum keeps going, it wouldn't surprise me if Festerman's Folly was ripped out by the end of the year and the Confederate Soldiers Monument put back where it belongs.

I'll be praying that there is enough shred of sanity to make it so.

EDIT 10:39 a.m. EST: D'oh! Rob works fast! Here's the video from last night's meeting that he just posted...

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It's the start of Tammy Tuesday!

Beginning today, look forward to a weekly (meaning: as often as I can remember to do it) photo of Tammy: my miniature dachshund! These won't necessarily be a just-taken pic of her. It'll be whatever is in the Tammy-file that I think might bring a smile to y'all's faces. But since she's still just ten months old, there aren't that many photos of her that I could have made anyway.

Here she is from last week, looking content in the "nest" she's made with a blanket in the recliner...

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Last night's THE WALKING DEAD nearly made Chris lose bladder control!

And mind ya, that was just from the final five minutes!!

Two things I will say before anything else: that after "Home", this week's episode of AMC's The Walking Dead, David Morrissey has damned-well earned enough street credo to be top choice to play Randall Flagg in that forthcoming film adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand.

Yeah, just try to get that idea out of your head now that I've put it there. I dare ya...

Second: Daryl Dixon is the most awesomesauce-loaded BAD-ass on television since the invention of the cathode ray tube:

Norman Reedus more than deserves an Emmy nod this year, for the life he's brought to Daryl. Along with Chandler Riggs (hey, wouldn't it be soooo appropriate if both Daryl and Carl got supporting actor nominations?).

"Home" delivered everything that has made The Walking Dead the best drama series on television right now. I emphasize "drama" because it was past the halfway mark of this episode before we saw any walkers get offed. But when that finally came we got perhaps the most gruesome zombie-slaughterfest of the series to date (note to self: a hatchback is a potent weapon against the undead).

(By the way, Merle might be dumb, but he did at least have the good sense to ummmm... "disarm" himself before he answered the call of nature. 'Fess up now: how many others out there also caught that.)

The dialogue between the Brothers Dixon following the Skirmish of Yellow Jacket Creek was so compelling that I had to rewind the DVR and watch it again. Glenn has become a man motivated by wrath: something we haven't seen before in the poor guy. I'm feeling conflicted because as much as that kind of thinking tends to lead one to a bad end, you gotta admire how this show isn't afraid to shake its characters down to the core.

Andrew Lincoln went 3/4ths of this episode before getting a spoken line of dialogue. But even so, he's so persuasive playing Rick as a broken and despondent man that it was almost like watching silent film of the finest form.

Yeah, everything about "Home" was spot-on flawless.

And then came those final five minutes.

I ain't saying anything else, for sake of those who haven't caught the episode yet, 'cuz it really is worth it to go into this episode pretty cold. But I will make this comment: that what we saw at the end of "Home" was NOT the real war with Woodbury. That is no doubt still to come. And if the final minutes of "Home" are any indicator, when the full-bore all-out conflict comes it is going to make everybody watching it scream out and cry for Momma.

And that music that Bear McCreary came up with for the attack (including the "bomb") was terrific! Yet one more reason why we need to get a proper soundtrack CD or three of his The Walking Dead work (hey AMC are you guys listening yet??).

If "Home" isn't the best episode of The Walking Dead so far, it's pretty dang close. Gonna watch it again later tonight :-)

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Air Jordan: Forever young

The people who I tend to admire the most are those who stay true to themselves, but also know how to change and grow as they get older. People who don't let time wear them down but instead become the better for it.

This is one such person...

The Knight Shift says "Happy Birthday" and wishes all the best to Michael Jordan - perhaps the greatest player that the game of basketball has ever known - on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday today!

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