Musings from the basement...

75 years ago today

May 6, 2012 5 Comments

The following is excerpted from my book Lakehurst: Barrens, Blimps and Barons. Seventy-five years ago today, fire rained down from the sky when the great airship Hindenburg exploded into a ball of flame over Lakehurst on May 6, 1937, in the process leaving an unforgettable mark on history. To this day, it remains the largest vessel ever to take to the skies. It was over 800 feet long; as long as two football fields and the majority of a third. Despite its stunning bulk, it routinely made the flight from Germany to Lakehurst, NJ in a mere two days while carrying scores of passengers. The Hindenburg was a Nazi vessel, constructed by the Germans in 1935 as the crowning jewel of its vast fleet of zeppelins. From the very start…
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Works by Eric, Writing

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Come see me Sunday in Lakehurst

May 5, 2012 0 Comments

Drop by the community center in Lakehurst on Sunday between 1 and 4 p.m., where I’ll be signing copies of Lakehurst: Barrens, Blimps and Barons (find out more about the book here), as well as selling limited quantities of this and other books. I’ll have a table there as part of the Historical Society’s recognition of the 75th Anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster. The community center is located on Center Street, right there by the McDonald’s on Route 70, across from the Historical Society museum at 300 Center Street. It’s in the old firehouse. Whether you’re an old friend or just someone interested in the book, I’d love to see you. Sadly, book quantities will be limited, so if you’re interested in buying a copy…
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Uncategorized, Works by Eric

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Re-Watching the Sopranos – Season 3

April 30, 2012 2 Comments

When I started this series of blog posts, I meant to do it weekly. Life got in the way. But hey, here I is! I’m back. And here’s more. As I’ve mentioned, these posts are full of SPOILERS. If you have not watched the series and think you will one day, avoid them. If you have, read and argue with me below. As I also mentioned, these are meant to be casual posts. I put my time in when it comes to studying cinema. Now I’m just here to have fun. Watching this again in rapid succession, it really struck me how little happened in season 3. The only two storylines that begin and are resolved are Jackie Jr. (with a predictable/inevitable ending) and Tony’s new girl…
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Television

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Re-Watching the Sopranos – Season 2

April 2, 2012 4 Comments

Picking up from last week, when I began posting about my recent re-watch of The Sopranos. As with last week, I will freely post SPOILERS, so don’t read if you haven’t seen these episodes. Also, I’ll be light and quick; these are just some fast impressions, not deep essays on the show. For a great in-depth, episode-by-episode look at the show, read this excellent series of essays. Following the groundbreaking creation that was season 1 of The Sopranos, it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine the show failing to live up to the amazing potential it displayed. We’ve all heard of the Sophomore Slump, the idea that living up to a stellar first performance is a near impossible mountain to climb. It has happened time…
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Television

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Re-Watching the Sopranos – Season 1

March 26, 2012 2 Comments

I’ve said before that HBO changed the the way I watch TV. The emphasis on strong writing, stellar acting, big production values, and season-long storylines drew me back into television after a long period of having abandoned the idea of it being something worthwhile. Prior to a change in my TV habits, I had given up watching broadcast TV altogether. There seemed better things to see and better things to watch (such as Hitchcock films). But HBO’s bold, expansive programming changed all that, and these days I prefer long television dramas to movies. It all started with The Sopranos, a landmark series by any measure. This is a show that took the groundbreaking efforts of Hill Street Blues and blew them into the stratosphere. No…
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Television

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