Rappy Reads Like Lambs to the Slaughter: Chapter 3, Part 1-Wherein Psychology is Bashed as “the Occult”

Apologies for a rather short page today, but I haven’t been feeling very well, slept the afternoon away, and would rather be doing anything else than reading this tripe.

Now that Like Lambs to the Slaughter has dedicated a chapter on “the Humanist Conspiracy” to the supposed evils of education, it’s only fitting that this chapter, “Your Teacher the Occultist?” is less about teaching and more about piling blame on clinical psychology on the rise of the occult.

Before I go into this chapter in earnest, though, I’d like to share a personal story. As

 

Rappy Reads Like Lambs to the Slaughter: Chapter 1, Part 2-The He-Man Horseman

Welcome back to peering into the abyss that is Like Lambs to the Slaughter! After some deliberation, I decided it would be most apt to update this series on Wednesdays and Sundays (other than those Wednesdays and Sundays when I’m busy), with my RPG reviews and other topics getting updates on other days only. So, after a first page of content showing a connection to Hal Lindsay and extolling the evils of Smurfs, what does the next entry of chapter 1 hold for us?

 

Rappy Reads Like Lambs to the Slaughter: Chapter 1, Part 1-Dare to be Stupid

The people have spoken. I originally had a more grandiose opening to this post, but it was eaten by a WordPress fail, so let’s just cut the crap and get into this…well, crap. It’s time to start our look at Like Lambs to the Slaughter: Your Child and the Occult, by Johanna Michaelsen.

If you were not a child of the ’80s, you may not remember the

 

Don’t be so Phylotarded

Well, seeing as the idea of having a specific set of dino-focused RPG reviews in a row didn’t appeal to me, the spring (or summer) of dino RPGs just isn’t happening. I will, of course, review dinosaur-themed roleplaying game titles, but on my own time, as I still have yet to seem to learn from my past mistakes of trying to push myself to write on a specific topic when I don’t feel the creative juices flowing. That isn’t to say that there are no dinosaur topics on my mind; no, far from it, there are plenty! And that’s where we lead into today’s post.

You may recall in my last blog post, I took note on creationist dino-fantasies and their influence on my past. I also noted the term “phylotardation” as used by the brilliant Darren Naish to parodize the classic cryptid known as the Mokele-Mbembe. He did a good job, but I couldn’t help thinking how much farther it could be taken. There have been numerous supposed “modern-day dinosaurs” brought in as evidence for creationism by missionaries, spin artists, and excited dreamers over the decades, and I felt it was time that they got their due. Well…due for two of them, at least. This is mainly a primer on what to look for in a phylotarded cryptid, not an exhaustive survey or anything. So, without further adieu, behold Jurassic Snark a brief introductory exercise in phylotardation.

 

Rappy Reviews Dinotopia the Series: Episode 2-Making Good

Note/Credit: Dinotopia the Series is the copyright of Hallmark Entertainment Productions, LLC., and Artisan Entertainment Inc, and Dinotopia itself is the creation of James Gurney. The images shown here are for referential use in this satirical non-profit review only.

Continuing where the first of this opening two-parter left off, Karl and Frank are sheltering with a rural couple for the night thanks to the rampant Tyrannosaurus rex invasions, and David is whining to Marion about how his dad never appreciates anything he does. Conveniently enough for Frank, the local yocal he’s staying with happens to have been the last offworlder to have gotten shipwrecked on Dinotopia before Frank and his sons, and made extensive charts and studies of the ocean in attempt to escape back to

 

Rappy Reviews Dinotopia the Series: Episode 1-Marooned

Note/Credit: Dinotopia the Series is the copyright of Hallmark Entertainment Productions, LLC., and Artisan Entertainment Inc, and Dinotopia itself is the creation of James Gurney. The images shown here are for referential use in this satirical non-profit review only.

Edit: Let it not be said I am not a fair lass with a sense of integrity. I’ve rewritten this review slightly in light of an error on the name of a character and his actor, and I apologize for this mistake.

Our first episode of the TV series begins with a plane crash…that is actually merely the cause of a sweaty nightmare for Karl. Yep, only a few seconds in and we’ve already got a dream sequence. This is also basically an excuse to

 

Rappy Reviews Dinotopia The Series: Introduction

Note/Credit: Dinotopia the Series is the copyright of Hallmark Entertainment Productions, LLC., and Artisan Entertainment Inc, and Dinotopia itself is the creation of James Gurney. The images shown here are for referential use in this satirical non-profit review only.

The year was 1992. George H. W. Bush was president, the El Salvador Civil War ended, former Soviet lands were gaining their independence, Galileo received an extremely posthumous apology from the Vatican, and a man by the name of James Gurney published a lavishly-illustrated book entitled Dinotopia: a Land Apart from Time. Notable for its beautiful artwork and journal-style writing (where there was indeed writing), it told the tale of Arthur Denison and his son Will, men of the 1800s that found themselves stranded on a mysterious island where intelligent dinosaurs and shipwrecked humans had come together to create a utopian civilization. With a book that combined dinosaurs, excellent art, and the winning of a Hugo Award, it was bound to take off. And take off it did, with three full Gurney-illustrated titles (the deliciously steampunky sequel Dinotopia: the World Beneath, the prequel Dinotopia: First Flight, and the further sequel Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara), 16 young reader titles, two adult novels penned by Alan Dean “I wrote the first ever Star Wars Expanded Universe novel” Foster, video games, an animated kid’s film, and…alas…a miniseries.

 

Rappy’s Comic Reviews: Jurassic Park-Redemption Introduction and Issue #1

Note: All art shown here is copyrighted by IDW Publishing, and is the creation of Frank Miller and Nate Van Dyke. The images are shown here for referential use in this satirical non-profit review only.

Hello, dear viewers. As you probably know, I am a fan of Lewis “Linkara” Lovhaug, a dandy man with a fine piece of headwear that reviews comic books…as in, he has headwear and reviews comic books, not that the headwear itself reviews comic books. And as you can probably further surmise from that statement, I myself am a fan of comic books. I am also a fan of Jurassic Park; after all, what dinosaur fan that grew up in the late 80s to early 90s wasn’t? Whether or not you like the controversial stances on science from the late Michael Crichton, it cannot be denied that the movies spawned from his novels have become the face of the Dinosauria in pop culture and don’t seem to be showing signs of abandoning that pedestal any time soon. Now, I won’t be reviewing the movies here. But where does that leave the topic of comic books? Well, let me tell you a story of a little company called IDW…

 

Rappy Reviews Primeval: Season 1, Episode 2

Note: Primeval, and all imagery derived therefrom, is the property of ITV and Impossibly Pictures Ltd. These images are used here for non-profit review purposes only.

First off, I’m stating that the Primeval Profiles from now on will be together at the bottom, in between the recap and the final thoughts. So I’ll be referring to creatures by name and a little description beforehand, and then you can check up on scientific accuracy and the like after the main recap.

The second episode begins on an unusually warm subway train going through the London Underground. A dog-sized spider-like creature is creeping up the train, leading to a scream from a passenger before a quick jump cut back to the university, where we have Connor….well…being Connor. He’s decided to tell his friends that he’s seen a live gorgonopsid and that he’s in on government secrets, and they don’t believe him. Shocking, that. After some futile attempts to improve his trustworthiness, Connor leaves the scene, leading the Weasley-looking friend to state that Connor’s ‘delusion’ is “sadder than Matrix: Revolutions“. Oho, satire! Meanwhile,

 

Rappy Reviews Primeval: Season 1, Episode 1

As a show that only had one 12-episode season, I can’t just barrel through the Dresden Files TV series alone…that’d probably be boring if I didn’t spice it up with other things anyway. So, here’s the second sci-fi/fantasy show I’m going to be reviewing: Primeval!

For those of you who have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, Primeval is a television series produced in the UK by ITV and shown in America by BBC America and Sci-Fi SyFy about a group of individuals facing off against prehistoric (and sometimes future-spawned) creatures that come through portals in time that always inexplicably head to the UK…sorta like the rifts in Torchwood, really. It ran for 3 seasons before it briefly faced as extinct as its monstrous stars, only to bounce back and trudge on, currently in the early episodes of its fourth season. Being both palaeontologically-spawned and fantastical in nature, I figured it would be the perfect series to review in between the Dresden Files and whatever else I’m in the mood to take a stab at. So, without further delay, let’s look at the pilot episode that started it all.

Note: Primeval, and all imagery (shoddy though it may be; seriously, no idea why these are so fuzzy compared to the ones from the Dresden Files TV series) derived therefrom, is the property of ITV and Impossibly Pictures Ltd. These images are used here for non-profit review purposes only.

Our opening scene is of