RIP HAROLD RAMIS
2/24/14
Harold. Ugh. Dearest Egon. When I was 4 years old I saw Ghostbusters in the theater. It was one of my first memories, and being a little morbid fuck, the parapsychological babble and cartoonishly gruesome special effects had appealed to me then, and stick with me to this day. I was obsessed. I loved the cartoon and HATED the Filmation cash-in. I had the bedspreads, the plastic Proton Pack with a yellow foam proton stream, dozens of figures, plus the Ecto-1 and the Firehouse. The ectoplasm I bought smelled funny and got very gross if you didn't snap the plastic lid on its container just right. By the time Ghostbusters 2 came out, I had already read the novelization twice. Ecto-cooler, the NES game, the cereal.... you get the idea.
2/24/14
Harold. Ugh. Dearest Egon. When I was 4 years old I saw Ghostbusters in the theater. It was one of my first memories, and being a little morbid fuck, the parapsychological babble and cartoonishly gruesome special effects had appealed to me then, and stick with me to this day. I was obsessed. I loved the cartoon and HATED the Filmation cash-in. I had the bedspreads, the plastic Proton Pack with a yellow foam proton stream, dozens of figures, plus the Ecto-1 and the Firehouse. The ectoplasm I bought smelled funny and got very gross if you didn't snap the plastic lid on its container just right. By the time Ghostbusters 2 came out, I had already read the novelization twice. Ecto-cooler, the NES game, the cereal.... you get the idea.
Ghostbusters was my formal introduction into horror and scifi, even if it is renowned as a comedy. From there on in, I have never looked back; the supernatural and macabre are indelibly my passion. I'm indebted to Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis for the incredible world they set up for me, and everyone else, in a spectacularly haunted New York City. The film is still a favorite today not just to me but to ARMIES. An entire generation of nerds and gorehounds, artists and occultists, plebes and professors, were inspired by their masterpiece. Harold's influence can't be underestimated.
Harold Ramis died today and it sucks. It seems a lot of entertainment people I cared about died this year. Weird, I never seemed to pay attention these things before; perhaps I'm just getting old. I know I didn't mention his other works, but that is not my point. Harold did a lot of other notable things in his career, some things I love, some things I don't, but that is all irrelevant. He inspired then, and continues to inspire me and many others--that's my point.
The world of comedy and entertainment lost a GIANT today. This hilarious and smart motherfucker went out and made shit that influenced others to go out and make shit and laugh and love life a little bit more.
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