I Watched Epiphany (2019, dir. by Koula Sossiadis Kazista and Katina Sossiadis)


Luka (Caitlin Carmichael) is a teenage girl who lives in Florida with her Uncle Peter (George Georgiou) and her father, Theo (Alex Dimitriades).  Theo has only recently reentered Luka’s life and Luka was raised by Peter and his wife, who has recently died of breast cancer.  Peter and Theo both make a living diving for sea sponges but business is slow, Theo is drinking too much and still having nightmares about the things that he saw when he was growing up, and Peter is hooked on painkillers.  Both Peter and Theo came to America from Cyprus but neither tells Luka much about her family’s past or why there is still so much bad blood between the two brothers.

After Luka is caught stealing for a church collection plate, she’s sentenced to do community service.  Working at a retirement community, she meets an old Greek man (Burt Young) who also doesn’t like to talk about his past.  Even though he’s grumpy and everyone else is scared of him, Luka bonds with him and discovers that they have something in common.  Meanwhile, Theo tries to come to terms with the past with the help of his new girlfriend, Cari (Scottie Thompson).

The plot of Epiphany meanders from one incident to another and, at first, I wondered if it was all going to lead anywhere.  But eventually it does, especially as Luka learns more about her Cypriot heritage and the tragedy that neither her father nor her uncle can recover from.  Some of it, like the identity of the old man, was a little predictable but, overall, I enjoyed Epiphany.  Caitlyn Carmichael is great as Luka and it was impossible for me not to relate to her and her coming-of-age story.  It’s a sweet movie with a good message about redemption and forgiveness.  I liked it.

Artwork of the Day: The Education of Lydia (Artist Unknown)


Unknown Artist

This is from 1966.  Stories about “what really happened” at college were popular during the pulp era, because they both scared and titalated parents while giving the future college students of America something to look forward to.  The author’s name, Charles X. Wolffe, looks like an obvious pseudonym or a house name that many writers shared.  But Beacon Signal only published four books by “Charles X. Wolffe” so he might have been a real person.  Unfortunately ,the identity of the artist responsible for this cover is not known.

The Covers of Fantastic Universe


by Edmund Emshwiller

It’s a new year and I don’t know about you but I feel like looking to the future.  From 1953 to 1960, Fantastic Universe did just that.  It was one of the many sci-fi magazines to be published in the 50s.  While it was never as financially successful as some of the other magazines of the age, it has since been acclaimed for the quality of its writing and for its covers!

Here, to get 2022 off to a good start, are a few of the covers of Fantastic Universe:

by Virgil Finlay

by Alex Schomburg

by Alex Schomburg

by Ed Moritz

by Frank Kelly Freas

by Leo Margulies

by Virgil Finlay

by Virgil Finlay

by Virgil Finlay

by Virgil Finlay

by Virgil Finlay

Artwork of the Day: Just A Picture Of A Park In The Rain


by Erin Nicole

Happy New Year!

I know that this is a simple picture, especially considering that it’s the first artwork of the day of 2022.  I took it at the Shops at Legacy in Plano, Texas on one rainy afternoon.  I got soaked taking the picture but I think it was worth it.  It’s a picture that anyone could have taken but it’s also a picture that fill me with hope and peace, which is what we should all start the new year with.  Looking at this picture reminds me that there will always be storms but they will be temporary.  And sometimes, the rain can be beautiful.