Ghost - busting, -breaking And Writing

No, Don't Worry About The "Ghostbusters" Of The Title
Okay, you can if you want to - Conrad not going to order your emotions by diktat  - what I meant was that this isn't going to be a thinly-disguised explosion of bile about the recent Gh - I beg your pardon - about the recent Film That Shall Not Be Named.
     No, this is a lot more complicated.  Cast your minds back to 1975, and a live action television series called "Ghostbusters", made by the Filmation company.  Art?

Larry Storch, Forrest Tucker and Bob Burns*.

     Conrad has never seen this programme and doesn't feel any the poorer for it.  Yes, I know you're wondering about it, but you see the pork-pie hat was once a fashion item amongst the South Canadian - what's that?  Oh, the gorilla wearing a beanie?  Absolutely no idea.
     Now, hurl your mind into the future of 1984, and THE ONE TRUE FILM entitled "Ghostbusters".  Art?

Ah, Siggy.   Siggy, Siggy, Siggy.  And some blokes.

      At this point Filmation's lawyers doubtless sprang upright with $$$ signs in their eyes, pointing out that they already owned the title name, and would Columbia like to give them dustbins full of money to continue using it?
     Columbia did, coughing up $500K and a share of the profits, at which their lawyers doubtless sprang upright with $$$ signs in their eyes, kicked the studio accountants awake and proceeded to prove that the film "Ghostbusters" didn't make a single cent in profit.
     Quite.
      The tit-for-tat continued.  Filmation, probably seeing the opportunity to reap a little free publicity on the back of the film's "profitless" success, came up with their own animated version of the 1975 live action series, entitled "Ghostbusters".  Art?

Updated.  No beanie, you see.

     This stole a march on Columbia, who were creating their own animated "Ghostbusters" series - which is great, by the way, and I know at least one episode was written by J. Michael Strazcynski - so they had to come up with another, different title.  Art?

Notice none of them look like the film cast.  Rights problems?

      They rather snidely came up with "The REAL Ghostbusters".
     None of the above to be confused with "Goober and the Ghost Chasers".
     Okay, now we've determined who the REAL AND ONLY Ghostbusters are, I think we can move on.  Motley - begin!

It Was Saint Swithin's Day Plus One
Conrad, performing his traditional role as dogsitter and Human-shaped Cushion, had been making notes until he put the board down and Edna inveigled her way onto my lap.  She's quite craft at making the most of opportunities like this.  Art?

Dramatic camera angle, eh?

      I was also watching the second episode of "Game Of Thrones", which you may have heard of; it's a kind of secondment opportunity for every English-stroke-British character actor going, filmed in Northern Ireland, apparently.  Except for the bits that require consistent sunshine, as NI is even more prone to rain than England, so they went to Malta to film there.
     Now, as for technical details, given the height of The Wall, I don't really think that a single man at a windlass can raise a wooden <cont. Page 94>

Jim'll Paint It And Urban Legendaria
I admit to having just made up the word "Legendaria" and the spellchecker has highlighted it, except it describes what I want to get across.  And - who's blog is it?  Okay, let's look at the penultimate offering over at "Jim'll Paint It".  Art?

Scary stuff, eh?

     What this represents is Mister Rogers - the very definition of a much-loved South Canadian presenter of children's television programmes - having just offed Darth Vader, Sauron, Agent Smith and Moldevort, thusly being worshipped by the Sesame Street Muppets.
     This echoes the urban legend that Mister Rogers was actually a US Marine Corps sniper with dozens of confirmed kills, and who wore long-sleeved sweaters to cover up his "Semper Fi" and "Death From A Distance!" tattoos.
     I think the samurai swordsman trope is better.

I can hear you squawking about the blog title.  "Where does the Ghostbreaking come in?  Not to mention the Ghost Writer?  Oh Good Lord!  Don't tell us that someone else writes BOOJUM! and Conrad only sticks his name on at the end?"

The Ghostbreakers
A fillum from 1940 and rather in the spirit of "The Cat and the Canary" - a ghost film, not one about domestic pets, thank you - in that it stars Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard in peril at the haunted house she inherited.  Art?

Whose finger is that? - Actually don't answer that question ...

     I've only seen ten minutes so far but it's very atmospheric and makes a blacked-out New York look extremely wet and sinister.  Just wait till we get to that island house ...

     "Yes yes yes - and the Ghost Writer"? I hear you question.  Okay, okay.  Art?

     Another coincidence, which would be creepy if it weren't still daylight**.


*  I'll be he does.  Shame or embarassment, take your pick.
** Later on - who knows!