Soultaker is an American fantasy horror film written by Vivian Schilling
and directed by Michael Rissi, released on October 26, 1990. It stars
Joe Estevez in the title role, alongside Schilling, Gregg Thomsen, Chuck
Williams, Robert Z'Dar, and David "Shark" Fralick. The film follows a
group of young adults who try to flee from the Soultaker when their
souls are ejected from their bodies after a car accident. Inspired by
discussions with Action International Pictures producer Eric Parkinson,
the script was based on a real-life car accident Schilling was involved
in. The film was shot in five weeks on a $250,000 budget. Originally
planned for a direct-to-video release, it saw limited theatrical
screenings, with eight prints distributed in United States. Since its
release, the film has received negative reviews, but won the Saturn
Award for "Best Genre Video Release" in 1992. A sequel was planned but
never made, and Schilling turned its premise into a novel titled
Quietus, published in 2002. Soultaker was featured in the tenth-season
premiere episode of the comedy television series Mystery Science
Theater 3000 in 1999.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soultaker_%28film%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1920:
Irish playwright and politician Terence MacSwiney died after a
hunger strike in Brixton Prison, bringing the Irish struggle for
independence to international attention.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_MacSwiney>
1950:
Korean War: The People's Volunteer Army ambushed the South
Korean II Corps and elsewhere engaged the 1st Infantry Division, marking
China's entry into the war.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Unsan>
1980:
Proceedings on the Hague Abduction Convention, a multilateral
treaty providing an expeditious method to return a child taken from one
member nation to another, concluded at The Hague.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hague_Convention_on_the_Civil_Aspects_of_Inte…>
2010:
Mount Merapi in Central Java, Indonesia, began an increasingly
violent series of eruptions that lasted over a month.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Mount_Merapi>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
croft:
An enclosed piece of land, usually small and arable and used for small-
scale food production, and often with a dwelling next to it; in
particular, such a piece of land rented to a farmer (a crofter),
especially in Scotland, together with a right to use separate
pastureland shared by other crofters.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/croft>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Who are those who are really disloyal? Those who inflame racial
hatreds, who sow religious and class dissensions. Those who subvert the
Constitution by violating the freedom of the ballot box. Those who make
a mockery of majority rule by the use of the filibuster. Those who
impair democracy by denying equal educational facilities. Those who
frustrate justice by lynch law or by making a farce of jury trials.
Those who deny freedom of speech and of the press and of assembly. Those
who press for special favors against the interest of the commonwealth.
Those who regard public office as a source of private gain. Those who
would exalt the military over the civil. Those who for selfish and
private purposes stir up national antagonisms and expose the world to
the ruin of war.
--Henry Steele Commager
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Steele_Commager>
Super-Science Fiction was an American digest science fiction magazine
published from 1956 to 1959, edited by W. W. Scott and published by
Feature Publications. Robert Silverberg and Harlan Ellison were already
selling crime stories to Scott for his other magazines, Trapped and
Guilty, and started bringing him scores of science fiction stories as
well. Many of the magazine's stories were sent in by literary agents,
and generally comprised material rejected by other magazines first,
though Scott did obtain two stories from Isaac Asimov. After a couple of
years Feature switched the focus to monster stories, hoping to cash in
on the trend that was making Famous Monsters of Filmland a success at
that time, and four more issues appeared before Super-Science Fiction
was discontinued in 1959. The magazine is not highly regarded by
critics, though Silverberg considers the material he wrote for Scott to
have helped him learn his trade as a writer.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super-Science_Fiction>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1851:
William Lassell discovered the Uranian moons Umbriel and Ariel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_%28moon%29>
1918:
The Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the last major engagement on the
Italian front of World War I, began.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vittorio_Veneto>
1945:
The UN Charter, the constitution of the United Nations, entered
into force after being ratified by the five permanent members of the
Security Council and a majority of the other signatories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_of_the_United_Nations>
1960:
A prototype of the Soviet R-16 intercontinental ballistic
missile exploded on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the
Kazakh SSR.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nedelin_catastrophe>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
coin of the realm:
1. (law, dated) The legal money of a country.
2. (figurative) Something that is valued like money within a particular
context.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/coin_of_the_realm>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success;
leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right
wall.
--Stephen Covey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey>
William Cragh (born c. 1262, died after 1307) was a medieval Welsh
warrior and supporter of Rhys ap Maredudd in his rebellion against King
Edward I of England. Captured in 1290, Cragh was tried and found guilty
of having killed thirteen men. He was hanged just outside Swansea twice,
as the gallows collapsed during his first hanging. Signs of life were
noticed the next day, and in a few weeks he had made a full recovery; he
lived for at least another eighteen years. The main primary source for
Cragh's story is the record of the investigation into the canonisation
of Thomas de Cantilupe, which is held in the Vatican Library. Cragh's
resurrection was one of thirty-eight miracles presented to the papal
commissioners who in 1307 were charged with examining the evidence for
Cantilupe's saintliness. The hanged man himself gave evidence to the
commission, after which nothing more is known of him.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cragh>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1850:
The first National Women's Rights Convention, presided over by
Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis, began in Worcester, Massachusetts.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women%27s_Rights_Convention>
1942:
World War II: Japanese troops began an unsuccessful attempt to
recapture Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands from
American forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_Henderson_Field>
1956:
The Hungarian Revolution began as a peaceful student
demonstration that attracted thousands while marching through central
Budapest to the parliament building.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
manageable:
1. Capable of being managed or controlled.
2. Capable of being done or fulfilled; achievable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/manageable>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The conjuror or con man is a very good provider of information.
He supplies lots of data, by inference or direct statement, but it's
false data. Scientists aren't used to that scenario. An electron or a
galaxy is not capricious, nor deceptive; but a human can be either or
both.
--James Randi
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Randi>
The Battle of Goodenough Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of
World War II fought between 22 and 27 October 1942. Japanese forces had
been stranded on Goodenough Island, Papua, during the Battle of Milne
Bay. Aircraft and ships headed from Milne Bay to Buna and vice versa had
to pass close to Goodenough Island, and a presence on the island could
provide warning of enemy operations. The island also had flat areas
suitable for the construction of emergency airstrips. The Allies
attacked the island prior to the Buna campaign. A force consisting of
the Australian 2/12th Battalion and attached units landed on the
southern tip at Mud Bay and Taleba Bay on 22 October and, following a
short but heavy fight, during which the Australians found it difficult
to advance, the Japanese forces withdrew to Fergusson Island on 27
October. The island was developed by the Allies after the battle and
became a major base for operations later in the war.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Goodenough_Island>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1895:
At Gare Montparnasse in Paris, an express train derailed after
overrunning the buffer stop and crashed through the station wall, with
the locomotive landing on the street below (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montparnasse_derailment>
1940:
After evading French and Spanish authorities, Belgian prime
minister Hubert Pierlot arrived in London, marking the beginning of the
Belgian government in exile.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_government_in_exile>
1966:
With their album The Supremes A' Go-Go, the Supremes became the
first all-female group to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Supremes>
2015:
A sword-wielding man attacked students and teachers in a high
school in Trollhättan, killing three people in Sweden's deadliest
school attack.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trollh%C3%A4ttan_school_attack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
lady-in-waiting:
1. A lady, often a noblewoman, in the household of a queen, princess, or
other woman of higher rank who attends her as a personal assistant,
generally a role considered an honour.
2. A woman who is a maid or servant to a lady, similar to a valet for a
gentleman.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lady-in-waiting>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more
stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always
known. They have known for thousands of years that to lock a sick person
into solitary confinement makes him worse. They have known for thousands
of years that a poor man who is frightened of his landlord and of the
police is a slave. They have known it. We know it. … You and I are the
boulder-pushers. All our lives, you and I, we’ll put all our energies,
all our talents into pushing a great boulder up a mountain. The boulder
is the truth that the great men know by instinct, and the mountain is
the stupidity of mankind.
--Doris Lessing
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Doris_Lessing>
Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms of the subclass
Hirudinea in the phylum Annelida. Like earthworms, they have soft,
muscular, segmented bodies that can lengthen and contract, but the
coelom, the body cavity that can be spacious in other annelids, is
reduced to small channels, and they typically have suckers at both ends.
Most leeches live in freshwater habitats, though some species can be
found in terrestrial and marine environments. A minority of leech
species prey on small invertebrates, but most are hematophagous,
attaching themselves to a host with a sucker and feeding on blood. They
were used in medicine from ancient times until the 19th century to draw
blood from patients. In modern times, leeches have been used in
microsurgery and in the treatment of extremity vein diseases and joint
diseases such as epicondylitis and osteoarthritis. Hirudin, an
anticoagulant drug they secrete, has been used to treat blood-clotting
disorders.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1520:
The islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (modern city of Saint-
Pierre pictured) near Canada were visited by Portuguese explorer João
Álvares Fagundes, who named them after the 11,000 Virgins.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon>
1854:
Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses and 15 nuns were
sent to the Ottoman Empire to help treat wounded British soldiers
fighting in the Crimean War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale>
1978:
After reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft,
Australian pilot Frederick Valentich disappeared while piloting a
Cessna 182L across the Bass Strait to King Island.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Frederick_Valentich>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
smell you later:
(humorous, informal) See you later; goodbye.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smell_you_later>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I pass, like night, from land to land; I have strange power of
speech; That moment that his face I see, I know the man that must hear
me: To him my tale I teach.
--The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner>
Stucky is a term used to denote the pairing of Steve Rogers (Captain
America) and James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes (the Winter Soldier),
fictional characters appearing in comic books and related media produced
by Marvel Comics. It is a manifestation of shipping, a phenomenon in
fandom wherein individuals create fan works that depict a romantic or
sexual relationship between two characters; Stucky is an example of
slash, a genre of fan works that focus on same-sex characters. Following
shipping naming conventions, Stucky is a portmanteau of "Steve" and
"Bucky". Though Rogers and Barnes have appeared in media dating to the
1940s, Stucky fan works grew substantially in popularity in the 2010s
following appearances by the characters in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe. Critics and commentators have used the popularity of Stucky in
fandom to remark on a range of topics, including the lack of LGBT
characters in superhero films and the nature of fandom on social media.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stucky_%28fandom%29>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1944:
World War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years
previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the
recapture of the Philippines.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte>
1967:
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified
subject, which they claimed was Bigfoot, at Six Rivers National Forest
in California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson%E2%80%93Gimlin_film>
1982:
During a UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC
Haarlem, a large number of attendees tried to leave the Central Lenin
Stadium at the same time, resulting in a stampede that caused 66 deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzhniki_disaster>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
knacker's yard:
1. The area of a slaughterhouse where carcasses unfit for human
consumption or other purposes are rendered down to produce useful
materials such as glue.
2. (colloquial, figurative) A (notional) place to send a person or
object that is spent beyond all reasonable use.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/knacker%27s_yard>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
From all eternity I have indeed recognized Thee and unto all
eternity will ever do so through Thine Own Self and not through any one
else besides Thee. Verily Thou art the Source of all knowledge, the
Omniscient. From everlasting I have besought and unto everlasting will
beseech forgiveness for my limited understanding of Thee, aware as I am
that there is no God but Thee, the All-Glorious, the Almighty.
--The Báb
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B%C3%A1b>
V. Gordon Childe (1892–1957) was an Australian archaeologist who
specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his
life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of
Edinburgh and then the Institute of Archaeology, London, and wrote
twenty-six books during his career. Initially an early proponent of
culture-historical archaeology, he later became the first exponent of
Marxist archaeology in the Western world. Childe studied classics at the
University of Sydney before moving to England to study classical
archaeology at the University of Oxford. In 1921 he became librarian of
the Royal Anthropological Institute and journeyed across Europe to
pursue his research into the continent's prehistory. He co-founded The
Prehistoric Society in 1934 and was its first president. In a 1935
presidential address he argued that a Neolithic Revolution initiated the
Neolithic era, and that other revolutions marked the start of the Bronze
and Iron Ages.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._Gordon_Childe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
First World War: Allied forces began engaging German troops in
the First Battle of Ypres.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Ypres>
1965:
Vietnam War: The Siege of Plei Me began with the first major
confrontation between soldiers of the communist North Vietnamese Army
and the U.S. Army.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Plei_Me>
2017:
Canadian astronomer Robert Weryk discovered ʻOumuamua
(artist's impression pictured), the first known interstellar object
detected passing through the Solar System.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
stink to high heaven:
1. To have a very strong and unpleasant smell.
2. (figurative) Of a person or situation: to be highly ethically
dubious; also, of a person: to be very incompetent.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/stink_to_high_heaven>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is no man alone, because every man is a Microcosm, and
carries the whole world about him.
--Thomas Browne
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Browne>
The Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) is a medium-sized North American cat
breeding across Alaska, Canada and much of the contiguous United States.
It has long, dense fur, triangular ears with black tufts, and broad
paws. It is a good swimmer and climber. A specialist predator, the lynx
depends heavily on snowshoe hares for food, which leads to a
prey–predator cycle, as populations of the two species respond to each
other. The lynx hunts at twilight or at night, ambushing hares and
killing them by biting the head or throat. After a gestation period of
two to three months, up to eight kittens are born which are weaned at
three months. This lynx occurs predominantly in dense boreal forests,
its range coinciding with that of the hare. Given its abundance and no
severe threats, the Canada lynx is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN
Red List. It is regularly trapped for the international fur trade in
most of Alaska and Canada but is protected in the south due to threats
such as habitat loss.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_lynx>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1356:
The most significant earthquake to have occurred in Central
Europe in recorded history destroyed Basel, Switzerland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1356_Basel_earthquake>
1954:
The first commercial transistor radio, the Regency TR-1, was
introduced in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor_radio>
1967:
The Soviet space probe Venera 4 became the first spacecraft to
perform direct in situ analysis of the environment of another planet
(Venus).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_4>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brae:
1. (Northern England, Scotland) The sloping bank of a river valley.
2. (Northern England, Scotland) Any hillside or slope.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brae>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
As against the "invisible hand" of Adam Smith, there has to be a
visible hand of politicians whose objective is to have the kind of
society that is caring and humane. I worked to put this view of social
justice into effect throughout my years in office.
--Pierre Trudeau
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau>
Tube Alloys was the code name of the United Kingdom's research-and-
development programme, with participation from Canada, to develop
nuclear weapons during the Second World War. A 1940 memorandum on the
possibility of a nuclear weapon led to the formation early in the war of
the MAUD Committee, chaired by George Thomson (pictured), which called
for an all-out development effort. Due to the high costs and the
potential threat from German bombers, Tube Alloys was subsumed into the
Manhattan Project by the Quebec Agreement. The British contribution to
the Manhattan Project was crucial, but the United States did not provide
complete details to the United Kingdom. The Soviet Union gained valuable
information through its atomic spies, who had infiltrated both the
British and American projects. After the war, the United States
terminated co-operation with the enactment of the Atomic Energy Act of
1946. This prompted the United Kingdom to relaunch its own project: High
Explosive Research.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_Alloys>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
The Open Championship, the oldest of the four major
championships in men's golf, was first played at Prestwick Golf Club in
Prestwick, Scotland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_Championship>
1964:
Australian prime minister Robert Menzies inaugurated the
artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of the capital Canberra.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Burley_Griffin>
2000:
A fatal rail accident at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, led to the
introduction of widespread speed limit reductions throughout the British
rail network and eventually caused the collapse of the railway
management group Railtrack.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railtrack>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
thwart:
1. (transitive) To cause to fail; to frustrate, to prevent.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To place (something) across (another thing);
to position crosswise.
3. (transitive, also figurative, obsolete) To hinder or obstruct by
placing (something) in the way of; to block, to impede, to oppose.
4. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To move (something) across or
counter to; to cross.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thwart>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos
rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle
he could not possibly have won. The pathetic is achieved when the
protagonist is, by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the
very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior
force. Pathos truly is the mode for the pessimist. But tragedy requires
a nicer balance between what is possible and what is impossible. And it
is curious, although edifying, that the plays we revere, century after
century, are the tragedies. In them, and in them alone, lies the belief
— optimistic, if you will, in the perfectibility of man.
--Arthur Miller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Arthur_Miller>
A History of the Birds of Europe, including all the Species inhabiting
the Western Palearctic Region is a nine-volume ornithological book
published in parts between 1871 and 1882. It is mainly written by Henry
Eeles Dresser, although Richard Bowdler Sharpe co-authored the earlier
volumes. The book describes all the bird species reliably recorded in
the wild in Europe and adjacent geographical areas with similar fauna,
giving their worldwide distribution, variations in appearance and
migratory movements. It was published as 84 quarto parts, each typically
containing 56 pages of text and eight plates of illustrations, the
latter mainly by the Dutch artist John Gerrard Keulemans, and bound into
permanent volumes when all the parts were published. In total, 339
copies were made, at a cost to each subscriber of £52 10s. Birds of
Europe was well received by its contemporary reviewers, although
Dresser's outdated views and the cost of his books meant that in the
long run his works had limited influence.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_the_Birds_of_Europe>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1793:
War of the First Coalition: The two-day Battle of Wattignies
concluded, with Jean-Baptiste Jourdan leading French forces to victory
over Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wattignies>
1834:
Most of the Palace of Westminster in London was destroyed in a
fire caused by the burning of wooden tally sticks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Parliament>
1940:
World War II: Nazi governor-general Hans Frank established the
Warsaw Ghetto, the largest Jewish ghetto in German-occupied Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto>
1984:
The Bill debuted on ITV, eventually becoming the longest-
running police procedural in British television history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bill>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
chicory:
1. (countable, botany) Either of two plants of the Asteraceae family.
2. (chiefly Britain) The common chicory (Cichorium intybus), the source
of Belgian endive, radicchio, and sugarloaf.
3. (chiefly Canada, US) The endive (Cichorium endivia, the source of
escarole and frisée.
4. (uncountable, cooking) A coffee substitute made from the roasted
roots of the common chicory, sometimes used as a cheap adulterant in
real coffee.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chicory>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I listen to people talking about this universal breakdown we are
in and I marvel at their stupid cowardice. It is so obvious that they
deliberately cheat themselves because their fear of change won't let
them face the truth. They don't want to understand what has happened to
them. All they want is to start the merry-go-round of blind greed all
over again. They no longer know what they want this country to be, what
they want it to become, where they want it to go. It has lost all
meaning for them except as pig-wallow. And so their lives as citizens
have no beginnings, no ends. They have lost the ideal of the Land of the
Free. Freedom demands initiative, courage, the need to decide what life
must mean to oneself. To them, that is terror. They explain away their
spiritual cowardice by whining that the time for individualism is past,
when it is their courage to possess their own souls which is dead —
and stinking! No, they don't want to be free. Slavery means security —
of a kind, the only kind they have courage for. It means they need not
to think. They have only to obey orders from owners who are, in turn,
their slaves!
--Eugene O'Neill
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eugene_O%27Neill>