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Not to long ago m||3 and I watched The Descent, a movie that I had had my eyes on, but a recommendation from my brother caused me to skip the waiting in the Netflix queue and actually purchase it. One can never have enough horror movies in their library can they? I was very pleased that it was a good shock ride that paid homage to Alien and The Shining and still managed to be a good film all its own. I am very interested that the release in the United States had a different conclusion than the original version. It is just another example of American audiences not really having any gumption whatsoever.

Although I’ve probably dragged m||3 along this horror path somewhat, we’ve discovered some very interesting films. It all starts with the American remake of The Ring and our research spiraled from there. Some would have stopped at Audition and rightly so, but still I’m thankful that my wife can take an afternoon and enjoy some crazy movies along the way.

The Descent sent me on a bit of a horror movie internet search. I know there has to be plenty of Fangoria fans out there and some of them have grown up to make good websites. While stumbling through some forums, I found that someone had actually taken the time to dig up a nice list of trailers of old. I don’t ever really remember seeing any of these trailers, but watching them is a real hoot when you consider how far their pacing and composition has come.

Highlight trailers:

• Terror Train
• Chopping Mall
• Tourist Trap
• Night of the Comet
• Maniac
• The Prowler

Visit the whole very entertaining list >>>

Those of you who might have scanned through previous posts might know that I’m somewhat of a bird nerd. My wife and I have spent many an evening watching the visitors to our backyard feeders and have enjoyed the Zen they tend to bring. One of the highlights of our bird species attention is the appearance of the Cedar Waxwing, which only shows up in the south during winter. We saw some last year, but they only stayed briefly because of what I imagine is a limited berry supply. Amazingly, this year we’ve seen them at both of our respective employment. We may not be able to sip wine and look at them from our back porch, but they are populating our work life.

I’ve seen flocks of up to near 50 sharking the berries where I work. One day this week one probably had too berries and smacked into the large glass windows of my business. It was stunned and confused enough for me to be able to physically handle it. To hold such a beautiful yet small creature was an immeasurable joy, since their fragility is only matched by their beauty. I was in full “nurse back to health mode”, being prepared to take him home. Problems of how I would actually do this plagued me, however, and I was relieved that when I went back to check on its condition that it regained its senses and flew away at my touch.

I returned to work this week and the flock had moved on. I never really realized that I could experience such joy from such a small thing as observing natures ebb and flow. Just reminds me that all the best things in life are free.

View some images of the Cedar Waxwing Rescue

A recent email exchange between my brother and I gave me pause to explore the recent intensity of Prince and his lasting prowess. Granted, I haven’t paid much attention to what he has done in recent years, but a reminiscent spin of ‘Purple Rain’ reminds me of what pop music used to be. It may just be my fond memories of dancing to the aforementioned song at my elementary school dance or the complete embarrassment at going to see the movie with my parents during the Apollonian sex scene, but something about this album always sticks with me. When I pull up the album now after many years of cynicism about music, I am still astounded by the musical intensity of ‘Purple Rain’. Whatever your preference for music is these days, I would be hard pressed to hear an argument that could disregard the power of this album and how it makes the current consideration of pop music completely flaccid. Just listen to the end run of ‘Darling Niki’ and tell me that the expectations of what music is supposed to inspire has changed. It makes me wonder what it is that will inspire.

Check out a video from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or check out the Super Bowl performance that started this whole though process.

It is not very often that I laugh out loud during my NPR wake up call. Lying in bed this morning I learned that the supposed bomb threat in Boston was actually a guerilla advertising campaign for Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The character depicted is a Moonimite giving the finger to passers by. Why a LED depiction of something that could be out of Gorf could be misconstrued as a bomb, I’m sure I don’t know. It seems to me that if anyone responding to the incident in possession of a laptop might have picked up what they actually were instead of blowing it up. Alas the poor guy who perpetrated this obviously terrorist act has been charged and could face up to 5 years in prison. I wonder if TNT is going to be paying for his legal fees.

Go buy a t-shirt to remind yourself to contain your artistic advertising tendencies or go watch a video to see how it’s done.