This early '8os TV movie is an interesting cultural artifact.. It's basically a dated cautionary tale on Dungeons & Dragons. A young Tom Hanks plays a college kid whose fragile emotional/mental health leads him to an escapist obsession with his D&D character. In a melodramatic scene, Hanks flees in to NYC and damn near leaps off the roof of the Twin Towers.

In 2023, it seems funny to look back on this institutional mistrust of D&D, especially on the heels of a major studio movie that basically now glorifies the D&D universe. But I remember some of the concerns & hysteria about D&D's potential to warp the minds of nerds.

The understandable parental anxiety of the late '7os & early '8os was that the line between reality and role-playing fiction could become blurred. And because D&D had demons & violence, the game play may carry over in to every day life and create killer elves & wizards. And there was an element of truth in these concerns. But I think every hobby has potential risk, and many hobbies and pastimes have been subjected to hysterical skepticism at some point. Video games, rap & heavy metal, etc. are things that have been cited for creating killers & psychos. And at times, those accusations aren't incorrect. But over time, the public is able to weigh an artform and/or hobby's net negative impact on its purveyors and fans. And even tho there have been isolated cases where D&D was believed to have a violent influence (the Shawn Novak case is one I remember well), I feel like D&D is now viewed as a harmless pastime. 

The movie wasn't great, but not terrible either. I did kind of get a sense tho it may have had a demoralizing effect on D&D players at the time(?) RPGs already had a reputation as a dorky, marginalized hobby, and D&D was being additionally demonized, when depicted as a gateway to psychotic breaks.

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I was reminded of an old (original) Twilight Zone episode recently.. The season one episode Mr. Bevis. Basically the story of a nice guy, down on his luck. Mr. Bevis is a single guy, with a beat-up ride, tenuous employment, with harmless (but childlike) hobbies. He is a good-hearted man, who paints a sympathetic character as he loses his job, and his hooptie is totaled in a freak accident.

So Mr. Bevis understandably heads to the bottom of the bottle, until he makes the unexpected acquaintance of a sort of guardian angel (played by Henry Jones, who later was in the underrated, short-lived series: Mrs Columbo)

'Mr. Bevis' with actor Henry Jones..

Mr Bevis is basically given a new life, but it doesn't fit what he truly wants. So his genie (without a bottle) gifts him back his original, modest (but fulfilling) existence. Including his outdated car.

So after downing a series of double shots, Mr. Bevis exits the bar and finds his ol' trusty ride waiting for him.. courtesy of his mystical benefactor. The guardian angel even relocates the vehicle, so a nearby cop can't ticket him for illegal parking. And the contented Mr. Bevis simply DUIs off in to the sunset..

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Was thinking about an ol' pen pal recently, and unfortunately learned she passed away in 2021. I hadn't corresponded with her since the early 2ooos, but I always appreciated the work she put in supporting and creating music around Hampton Roads.

When I knew Holly, her last name was Womack, but I remember she used stage names when playing in bands. And in her online obit, it looked like she had a married name. One of her zines was Fresh Rag, and then Cranked Up (and looking at this cover ^, maybe also Cranked Up Really High?)

(Cover model: Ms. April May)

I had already moved to LA when Holly was publishing her 'zines, but I was still in touch with several zine publishers covering Hampton Roads' rock. And appreciated the reports on Norfolk..

(from Fresh Rag, prophetic about what was happening in Norfolk real estate too)

I think Holly was also interviewed for the documentary Hardcore Norfolk, which did a good job covering the history of Hampton Roads rock, and how it was unfortunately fading. But truth is, organic local rock scenes are dwindling in most areas. It's not like the stretch between the mid 70s thru mid 90s, where a number of live, local music scenes (LA hardcore, NYC punk, Seattle/Washington State grunge etc) were being locally grown, honed and fostered by local 'zines and record labels. It's a different time, with different technologies, appetites, local media etc. But Holly did good, reporting and uplifting her local music community.

(I had also done some art for her website..)

                                                         contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

proto-Gronk

Everybody knows the great Gronk (Rob Gronkowski).

But before Gronk's football fame, there was an obscure Gronk on the ol' Masters of the Universe series. A brief, esoteric cameo..

(Gronk: from the episode Orko Loses His Magic Powers)

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Want to mention this book real quick. A recounting of Hurricane Katrina, told thru the illustrated (and personal) accounts of a handful of New Orleans' residents. Basically, the author (Neufeld) is an illustrator who was in New Orleans doing post-Katrina volunteer work. If I remember right, he was eventually commissioned to gather, then recreate the accounts of survivors he encountered. I think Neufeld did a really good job selecting a cross-section of survivors. He definitely humanizes each person. My only (unsolicited) criticism would be the glaring, virtual omission of the many reported crimes/depravities during Katrina. But in Neufeld's defense, he admits the depicted accounts are "quite particular and highly personal".. fair enough.

The first chapter The Storm, was really well done. Neufeld shows the arrival of the storm with some strong, ominous images using very little dialog or text (see the top half of the book cover ^). For me, this first chapter was probably the most memorable part.. And the book is a nice historical document of positive Katrina survival stories.

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Americanus Superfanus

For more superfan content: http://natrrain.blogspot.com/2021/03/second-act-of-lower-learning-act-one.html

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Added color to this Nat family portrait. Contains a lot of the recurring characters. Flanked on the front row by Creeps & Nathaniel, then Sharpie and Pudgy Nauseous on the other side. Also got Edgar Allan Toe and the Texas Weiner Man lurking in there.

On a note of nostalgic Nat Rrain friends & cast, I touched up an old page. There's some 'Loose Screws' graffiti visible in there. I used to collaborate with them from time-to-time on zine releases. This re-release is dedicated to my cousin, Big Philly.. Rest in peace.

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Over the last decade, and a couple funerals, I've been thinking about our society's beliefs on the afterlife. There seems to be a universal belief both within Christianity and America's wider pop culture, that Heaven is the (righteous) soul's final destination. But my understanding is that Christianity actually teaches that our final destination is living in a resurrected body, on a renewed Earth.

If you attend a Protestant church, you're probably reciting the Nicene Creed every week, which states.. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come

This pretty clearly refutes the idea of Christians awaiting Heaven as the anticipated, final destination..

I came across a valuable table of Bible verses, that expounds on the idea that Christians (and earthly creation) are awaiting a resurrection of the body, and not a disembodied soul that ends up in Heaven. 

And this understanding of Christian eschatology doesn't deny there is a Heaven, but it explains that Heaven is not where human souls are ultimately destined for.. We are waiting for perfected, resurrected bodies, designed for God's renewed planet. I guess there are different interpretations tho, because I even hear (some) pastors doing the bit about loved ones in Heaven looking down on us, awaiting our arrival in to that eternity.

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Below is a typical, contemporary (pitchfork) look for Arizona State hockey. It's pretty clean. But I've always preferred Arizona State's semi-retired mascot Sparky. So I've created an alternate Arizona State hockey logo. One including Sparky with a stereotypical missing tooth (no disrespect intended)..

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