Doco Short: The Umbrella Man

Fans of detective fiction, conspiracy theories and oddball phenomena in general should watch this cool short documentary clip by Errol Morris (Standard Operating Procedure) about the "Umbrella Man", a seemingly enigmatic figure spotted in the Zapruder footage that filmed JFK's 1963 assassination. It's a segment from a six-hour interview he conducted with Josiah Thompson, the author of the book "Six Seconds in Dallas" which looks extensively at the Zapruder film.

Even though the man is utterly fascinating and chilling the first time we see him (it's a sunny day, open black umbrella, what the hell??), the "mystery" is not so much what's interesting about this doco, but how it illuminates the notion of macro/micro levels of historical research which Thompson talks about, and what Morris describes as "the nature of investigation and evidence" in his statement. I look forward to seeing more.

(This actually kind of reminds of that silly Cellphone Time Traveler case from last year...)

The Carradine Conspiracy?

It was pretty shocking and saddening to hear of David Carradine's death last Thursday - the details of how it happened even more so. Auto-erotic asphyxiation? Found in a closet? In a Bangkok hotel? Predictably, the media are going to town with it. There's some chatter about a conspiracy (apparently he was looking into "secret societies"). Was it an accident, or was he murdered? Some reports are indicating that his hands were tied behind his back. There's also something about a footprint on the bed. Hmm. Here's a CelebTV report:



Meanwhile, Carradine's family are upset and disturbed that the photos of his body were published in a Thai newspaper, and have asked the FBI to investigate his death.