Special children create their own entertainment

when i was a child, i couldn't stay up too late.

around the time i was 5, i learned why.

growing up in the NYC area in the Bronx and then New Jersey with no cable, my family tuned in religiously to Channel 7, WABC New York. it was the channel that came in the clearest on our rabbit ear TV.

sometimes, i would stay up late.

then on rare occasions, i stayed up too late.

somewhere around midnight.

the late night movie would start. with its special theme

Channel 7 was my friend.

Bill Beutel would never be a part of something that would hurt me.




but somewhere around midnight

it would all go black

there came loud jeering trumpets

glistening with cheerful brutality and

cruel black and white elephants

marching very fast all over the place

motorcars gunshots

as i sit back screaming

with eyes wide open

there was nowhere to run or hide

the fact that this was happening

could never be stopped

and those elephants in

black and white grainy film from the 30s

were going to kill me

as their time period and disposition

gave them no choice to do otherwise

and the booming trumpets blared

and blasted in my ears

it was never going to end

until my heart stopped

but even after that

the screams would not and

as cascading animated shockwaves

bludgeoned me

warned me of a world

much more cruel than

i had imagined

black and white elephants

the Bronx is no more

America is waiting

speed of death

i was encased in a tomb

with the inscription:

"LATE NIGHT MOVIE"

finality

and the brutal pomp would fade

and i shudder in a corner

with eyes and mouth wide open

and the TV is clicked off



(my parents or other caretakers never seemed to be around at the right moment).

well.

since then, i could have found the source of this terror.

but i didnt. i talked about it. but i didnt.

finally Ria found a WABC late night movie theme.

but it was the much tamer late night theme that they currently use.

no no.

thanks to some search engine, i found it. the key to the worst pure terror in my life.

Here is an audio of the horror. (off the '80s TV Theme Super Site, local page).

Here is a video of the intro, in this clip introducing the 4:30 Movie. (off of TV Ark ).

if you check the psychedelicness, you can begin to see what i'm talking about.

um, perhaps a little baffled about grainy black and white elephants perhaps...

where is Bill Beutel to save me?

where?


Good luck, and be well.