ICS Update: Happy Anniversary - January 28, 2013

Greetings ICSers!

This January marks our 14th year in existence! I want to thank all of those frosty folks who came out on such a frigid night to watch movies. We showed the animated feature "The Dark Knight Returns" based on the story by Frank Miller. Kim Bartenslager was supposed to do presentations, but his father was taken to the hospital with congestive heart failure. Our best wishes go out to Kim.

The board has been shuffled around some. John Ward is the new Chairman, Tom Proveaux is the new Secretary, and Nina will stay on as Treasurer. Charlie and myself will become members at large. Since our inception, we have always had elections. We have had many great boards over the years- everyone should consider running one day.

We had a very important issue to discuss. In a nutshell: The church wants to increase our rent. Originally they told us $100, which we felt was reasonable. THEN they said $150, which we feel is not. Charlie has been our go-between, and a meeting was arranged with the pastor and the ICS Board, which he canceled with 1 hour's notice. Although he has said the amount is flexible, fact is we cannot afford more than $100. Just not doable. So while we remain in negotiations, we are exploring any possible options. Nothing is set in stone yet.

Here's the schedule for the foreseeable future:

February- Tom Diggin - Superhero Parodies
March- John Weber - ?
April- Courtney Spies - Quatermass Movies
May - Skip Phillips- Once Upon A Time in the West
June - Tom Proveaux - Chilling the Funny Bone
July - Judy Pentz - Horror in the 60s
August - Charlie Wittig - Fantasy in TV
September - Gary Svehla - ?
October - Greg Mank - Dissecting Young Frankenstein
November - Wayne Ferguson - ?
December - John Ward - Tarantino Movies
January - your friendly neighborhood Hendo - Jules Verne on Film

So there you have it. John Ward will be taking over the ICS-UPDATES as the new Chairman. I've enjoyed being Chairman of this fine group of people for the past 2-3 years. But you need to have variety to keep things from getting stale. New ideas, new approaches. I look forward to serving you on the board as a member at large as John takes the helm.

Stay warm, my friends.

Hendo

ICS Update - January 24, 2013

Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed,,,

Roger, ready to move out--

Yes, friends, those immortal words uttered at the beginning of the Batman TV show gives a clue as to what this Saturday's Meeting will be about- BATMAN MOVIES! There are certainly a number to choose from. From Adam and Burt to Bale, and all those in between. Personally, to me the only Batman movies are the campy 60s one, and the ones with Christian Bale. But hey, maybe you're a big fan of Joel Schumacher's Bats? Come on out and let's watch some bat-movies, same bat-time, same bat-place.

We're now in January and coming up is February- two months known for... snow! Now if we cancel a meeting, I will send out an email that morning, or if it snows badly on Friday, that evening. In any event, use your own judgement. If you are worried about the streets, stay home. We don't want anyone getting hurt.

We have an open calendar for showing movies. Used to be we had a year waiting list. Now it's like 6 months. We encourage all members to take a night. If you don't want to do a presentation, that's fine. You could simply do something like "Your 5 favorite movies", or "Movies I Hate" or whatever.

January is Dues Time. We need to ask members to try to pay your dues promptly, so we can pay the bills. We now have PayPal available via our website (that's how I renewed).

That's all for now. Keep Warm!

Hendo

ICS Update - December 12, 2012

Season's Greetings folks!

First off- remember you can always catch current goings-ons and conversations on our FACEBOOK page.

The meeting will be this Saturday, Dec 15th. Due to a snafu on our part, we will not have the hall. We will have the church instead. Charlie Wittig made a special trip to pick up a key to the church (ours for some reason no longer work). We will be having another Silent Auction (so bring in stuff). Also please bring food. The theme for the evening will be "Evil Children".

That morning a group are headed to AMC White Marsh to see THE HOBBIT. If you want details or want to join in, check with JOHN WARD. I imagine that it's possible by now that it's sold out.

A reminder that we will be collecting dues starting in December. They are still $25. Remember, if you'd like a waiver, you need to request one from the Board.

Also we will be taking nominations for our January elections. If interested in running please see Sam DiBlasi and Rick Arnold.

I won't be there this weekend, so let me wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Hendo

ICS Update: Happy Thanksgiving - November 21, 2012

Greetings one and all, and best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

This weekend is our November Meeting- and we will be having a RECENT MOVIE NIGHT. Everyone is asked to bring in a recent movie (1939 is NOT recent!) for members to vote on. For example, I will be bringing in "The Woman In Black", John Ward will be bringing "The Avengers" and "Contagion" and a few others.

There won't be any presentation that evening- instead we'll have a discussion of recent movies we've seen, led by John Ward.

Hard to believe, but another year is coming to a close. We will be holding our Annual Elections in January. Anyone wishing to run for office can put their name in for the ballot. I will again be asking Sam DiBlasi and Rick Arnold to be tellers- however I need to see if they are willing to do this for us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hendo

ICS Update: Halloween The Day After - October 28, 2012

Greetings one and all!

I wanted to thank everyone for bringing both themselves and food to our Annual Halloween Potluck Dinner! I hope that everyone there enjoyed themselves at our little fete.

You may be curious (or, maybe not) about who won the All-Nighter. This year we had 4 hardy souls, including for the first time a woman. Yes Mary Blackstock broke the "glass ceiling" by staying until 5:30 with Skip, John W and Darryl! As John Ward put it:

Skip, Darryl, Mary and I lasted until 5:30 this morning, watching The Cabin in the Woods, Zombieland, and the complete "Grindhouse Experience" back to back to back!! If you count the Grindhouse movies separately -- Planet Terror and Death Proof -- that's four movies we watched after Greg Mank's presentation on "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man."

Man, I get tired just THINKING about staying up until 5:30! Well done, gentlemen and lady!

Included is a photo of those who dressed up. Nina Hawes won the costume contest, dressed as Tippi Hedron from "THE BIRDS"!

The real Halloween is this Wednesday, and between us and that stands a big storm. Everybody stay safe!

Hendo

ICS Update: Happy Halloween - October 24, 2012

Good Eve-e-ning to one and all! Just a reminder that this weekend is our Annual Halloween Party! We will be having renowned author GREG MANK speaking on FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN, Then we will screen this classic fright flick.

We are asking folks to bring a dish for our POTLUCK DINNER, too!

There will be a COSTUME CONTEST with a prize for best costume!

And then there will begin... the HALLOWEEN ALL-NIGHTER! Let's see who has the fortitude to make it through the night watching movies! (Um... not me!).

So bring a friend, bring a fiend, bring yourself to our Halloween Party!

Hendo

ICS Update - Our Big 1-5-0 Meeting September 26, 2012

Greetings one and all, ladies and gentlemen, and those member running for public office- This Saturday marks our 150th Meeting! And to mark the event, we will be having Jocular John Ward going over the ICS's 150 top movies! And the movie that ranked at #1 will be shown out of doors (weather permitting) on Charlie's big silver screen! It is suitable for youngsters, so we don't have to worry about young kids on the Mini-Golf Course getting an eyeful! I remember as a kid on a way to visit my Aunt in Emmittsburg late one evening we drove past a drive-in theater that was showing an x-rated movie. Drive-ins did that a lot to get folks to come on out. That and quickie horror movies like "Frogs". Anyway, this movie is ok for kiddies. Now what movie is it? What, and ruin John's surprise? You'll have to come out and see for yourself!

Unfortunately, the dam-ned mosquitoes are still out, too. I hate mosquitoes. A scientific survey found that we could eliminate every one and not upset the food chain too badly. So bring either OFF or citronella candles (if you can find them), or else you might get welts! Or until we find out who attracts them the most and tie them to a tree away from others.

Next month is our time to HOWL with writer Greg Mank talking about "Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman"! Remember how Lugosi turned down the original role of the Monster, feeling it was undignified? Well, by the 1940s ol' Bela was willing to do almost anything for a paycheck, including playing the Monster. Luckily he wouldn't sink so long to co-star with a gorilla or something! 

Anyway, Greg will fill us in on the shenanigans behind the making of this Universal Classic. I remember when I later saw the poster, I wished the Monster had at least taken a punch at the Wolfman! More on the Halloween Party later!

So bring your comfy studio chair and your bug spray and come on out this Saturday!

Hendo