While I find the name Sentinel an interesting choice for my handle, there have been a few helpful influences along the way. To see a larger picture, just click on the image.

Now, I was under the impression that The Sentinel was the name of a television show back in the 1960's or 1970's. A quick check of the Internet Movie Database proved me wrong. The picture above is the movie poster for the 1977 movie The Sentinel. However, I did manage to find several matching titles to my handle:

1. The Haunted Sentinel Tower (1911)
2. The Sentinel Asleep (1911)
3. Shep The Sentinel (1915)
4. The Silent Sentinel (1918)
5. Silent Sentinel (1929)
6. The Sentinel (1977)
7. Sentinel (1982) (Television movie)
8. "Sentinel" (1990)(Television series)
9. Sentinel 2099 (1995)
10. The Sentinel (1996) (TV)
11. "The Sentinel" (1996) (Television series)
12. Sentinel Returns (1998) (Video game)
13. Auton 2: Sentinel (1998) (I'm guessing this one was a direct-to-video)
14. The Sentinel (2006) [Based on the novel by Gerald Petievich]

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that this would be the strongest influence on my namesake. This was the magazine of the Canadian Armed Forces, which ceased publication in 1994. You would think this would be the end, right? Wrong again, honey. I did some more research and discovered a thing or two about the name Sentinel that I didn't know before.

How many of you out there know of a science fiction author by the name of Arthur C. Clarke? Well, guess what? He put together an anthology of his short stories and called it, you guessed it, The Sentinel. Rumour control has it that this was the forebearer of "2001: A Space Odyssey". I'm pretty sure Mr. Clarke disputes that in this book.

But wait, there's more! (I know, this is getting as annoying as those Ginshu commercials....). I discovered this painting in Japan. It was painted by a Canadian artist, Ted Coyler, in 1987. This picture is a reproduction of the original painting, Sentinel, from the collection of Prince & Princess Takamado.

And there you have it. A complete page of information that you could care less about knowing, but now is imprinted upon your memory. Think of it as extra ammo to complain to me about filling your head with useless information. If you know of any other works involving the name "Sentinel", I would really appreciate hearing about it. You can e-mail me at KyotoCastle@hotmail.com.